Fracture toughness of steel plate from MV Kowloon Bridge

Chemical analysis, tensile, Charpy, DW NDT and fracture mechanics toughness data are presented for a grade A steel plate from the Kowloon Bridge, a sister ship of Derbyshire. The plate is shown to have poor toughness under dynamic loading conditions. The results leave open the possibility that brittle fracture could have contributed to a structural failure in the Derbyshire even at the high temperature of +30°C which is reported to have existed at the time of the ship's disappearance. The results are felt to support the proposition that present classification society rules need tightening to reduce the risk of brittle fracture in ships.     

Effects of small-scale turbulence on the growth of two diatoms of different size in a phosphorus-limited medium

The effect of turbulence on the nutrient flux towards osmotrophic cells is predicted to be size dependent. This should translate into growth. We experimentally followed and modelled the growth of two marine diatoms of different size (Thalassiosira pseudonana, 6 μm in diameter and Coscinodiscus sp., ca. 109 μm in diameter) under still water and turbulent conditions, using a shaker table. Experiments were done with phosphorus-limited cultures and lasted for ca. 5 days. Turbulence enhanced the growth of Coscinodiscus sp. in agreement with theory but not the growth of T. pseudonana, which was actually slightly lower under turbulence. At the end of the experiments there were about 1.7 times as many Coscinodiscus sp. cells in the turbulent treatment than in the still treatment, while for T. pseudonana almost the same cell concentration was found in both conditions. In addition, the Coscinodiscus sp. cells growing under still conditions presented a higher specific alkaline phosphatase activity than those growing in turbulence which indicates a higher need for phosphorus in the still cultures. A simple dynamic model, based on Michaelis–Menten nutrient uptake kinetics, needed nearly no optimisation other than using observed initial conditions of phosphate and cell concentrations. The model showed how an increased nutrient flux towards the cells translates non-linearly into cell growth, most likely by affecting the half-saturation constant (K_M). However, since Coscinodiscus sp. experienced significant mortality and cells partially settled to the bottom of the containers, unequivocal support for the size-dependent effect of turbulence on nutrient uptake will require further experiments and more sophisticated modelling. The mechanisms to connect an increased nutrient flux towards cells with population growth and whether this process is size dependent are important in parameterizing the effects of turbulence on marine plankton in coupled physical–biological models.     

Numerical simulation of 2D and 3D sloshing waves in a regularly and randomly excited container

In this paper,various aspects of the 2D and 3D nonlinear liquid sloshing problems in vertically excited containers have been studied numerically along with the help of a modified-transformation.Based on this new numerical algorithm,a numerical study on a regularly and randomly excited container in vertical direction was conducted utilizing four different cases： The first case was performed utilizing a 2D container with regular excitations.The next case examined a regularly excited 3D container with two different initial conditions for the liquid free surface,and finally,3D container with random excitation in the vertical direction.A grid independence study was performed along with a series of validation tests.An iteration error estimation method was used to stop the iterative solver（used for solving the discretized governing equations in the computational domain） upon reaching steady state of results at each time step.In the present case,this method was found to produce quite accurate results and to be more time efficient as compared to other conventional stopping procedures for iterative solvers.The results were validated with benchmark results.The wave elevation time history,phase plane diagram and surface plots represent the wave nonlinearity during its motion.     

Application of El Farol model for managing marine terminal gate congestion

Truck queuing at marine terminal gates has long been recognized as a source of emissions problem due to the large number of trucks idling. For this reason, there is a great deal of interest among the different stakeholders to lessen the severity of the problem. An approach being experimented by some terminals to reduce truck queuing at the terminal is to provide live views of their gates via webcams. An assumption made by the terminals in this method is that truck dispatchers and drivers will make rational decisions regarding their departure times such that there will be less fluctuations in truck arrivals at the terminal based on the live information. However, it is clear that if dispatchers send trucks to the terminal whenever the truck queues are short and not send trucks when the truck queues are long, it could lead to a perpetual whip lash effect. This study explores the predictive strategies that need to be made by the various dispatchers to achieve the desired effects (i.e. steady arrival of trucks and hence less queuing at the seaport terminal gates). This problem is studied with the use of an agent-based simulation model and the solution to the well known El Farol Bar problem. Results demonstrate that truck depots can manage (without any collaboration with one another) to minimize congestion at seaport terminal gates by using the provided real-time gate congestion information and some simple logics for estimating the expected truck wait time.     

Modeling yard crane operators as reinforcement learning agents

Due to the importance of drayage operations, operators at marine container terminals are increasingly looking to reduce the time a truck spends at the terminal to complete a transaction. This study introduces an agent-based approach to model yard cranes for the analysis of truck turn time. The objective of the model is to solve the yard crane scheduling problem (i.e. determining the sequence of drayage trucks to serve to minimize their waiting time). It is accomplished by modeling the yard crane operators as agents that employ reinforcement learning; specifically, q-learning. The proposed agent-based, q-learning model is developed using Netlogo. Experimental results show that the q-learning model is very effective in assisting the yard crane operator to select the next best move. Thus, the proposed q-learning model could potentially be integrated into existing yard management systems to automate the truck selection process and thereby improve yard operations.     

Seaport Development and Coastal Management Programs: A National Overview

Oysters have been harvested on the east coast of Australia for many thousands of years. Coastal Aboriginal communities used the extensive estuarine oyster resource and may have farmed oysters by establishing shell cultch beds in shallow areas of estuaries. The British colonization of Australia commenced in 1788 and oysters were initially used for food and production of lime. Concerns about unsustainable exploitation led to introduction of legislation that directed the oyster industry to aquaculture in 1884. Translocation of oyster stock for fattening, from New Zealand to Australian east coast estuaries, was encouraged. Here evidence is presented that this activity resulted in “mudworm disease” appearing in oyster farming estuaries on the Australian east coast between 1880 and 1900. The pandemic permanently destroyed natural sub-tidal oyster reefs and forced the oyster industry to adopt avoidance farming techniques including intertidal farming to cope with mudworm.     

Inland boundary determinations for coastal management purposes—an ecological systems approach to requirements of the federal coastal zone management Act of 1972

Abstract

An analysis of ecological systems that both sustain and are sustained by coastal waters provides the key to a biophysical procedure for delineating inland coastal management boundaries. This analysis entails two basic tasks: (1) mapping the ecosystems that compose coastal waters and adjacent areas, and (2) charting sustaining flows among these systems. The resulting boundary encompasses all environments of coastal waters (subaqueous areas containing a measurable quantity of seawater) and all shore‐lands (either emergent or submergent environments that interchange sustaining materials, energy, or biota with coastal waters). As this biophysical procedure depends on the precise location of, and functional transfers among, coastal ecosystems, it provides a means both for assessing the consequences of human actions and for establishing a landward boundary for a management program. Alternative boundaries not based on locations and operations of coastal ecosystems would probably be either arbitrary or of undue extent, nor would such “alternative”; boundaries be an integral part of an ongoing management process.     

OCS development: A new law and a new beginning

Abstract

This article reviews the conflicts that led to the establishment of a special Congressional Committee on offshore oil and gas exploration, development, and production and the attempted resolution of various issues by that Committee and the Congress in the 1978 Amendments to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953. A short review is provided of the history of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) development, of the conflict between the federal government and other interested entities and persons, and of the Congressional mechanism to respond to these conflicts. A more detailed analysis is provided of the most significant OCS issues. The article describes the various risks and benefits of offshore activity and the various benefits and risks of proposed changes in the law concerning such development. A review of the Congressional mechanism to assess these risks and benefits and balance them is included in a discussion of the various issues and legislated solutions. Finally, the article notes the need for continuing oversight and review of the benefits and risks and how effective the 1978 Amendments are in balancing them.     

Using data assimilation in laboratory experiments of geophysical flows

Data assimilation is used in numerical simulations of laboratory experiments in a stratified, rotating fluid. The experiments are performed on the large Coriolis turntable (Grenoble, France), which achieves a high degree of similarity with the ocean, and the simulations are performed with a two-layer shallow water model, using the SEEK method for data assimilation. Since the flow is measured with a high level of precision and resolution, a detailed analysis of a forecasting system is feasible. The procedure is tested for the baroclinic instability of a two-layer vortex. It is shown that the method of data assimilation properly captures the details of the initial flow perturbation. Then it is shown by sensitivity studies that an error of the model, attributed to small non-hydrostatic effects, can be distinguished from the error growth associated with the intrinsic instability of the system. Finally, it is experimentally demonstrated that the velocity field in the lower layer can be well controlled by data assimilation limited to the top layer.     

Assessing the impacts of driving environment on driving behavior patterns

Transportation - Considering the role of behavioral and environmental factors on road accidents and traffic intensities, the characterization of vehicle use and driver behavior opens new...