The impact of job assignment rules for straddle carriers on the throughput of container terminals

Straddle carriers represent a critical resource in the handling of containers within a container terminal. It is essential that they are deployed in an as efficient manner as possible. The research presented in this paper is motivated by the need to critically evaluate job assignment rules for straddle carriers that operate in a multiple straddle environment. This is achieved by developing a discrete event simulation model using industrial simulation software to model a container terminal located in Melbourne, Australia. The model accounts for variables such as the number of straddle carriers needed, the speed of straddle carriers, the arrival rate of trucks, and the job assignment rule. A principal finding of the study is that increasing the number of straddles in the present set‐up from 6 to 7 has a negligible effect on daily throughput. However, an increase in the number of straddles to 7 is expected to have a profound effect on reducing the average waiting time of trucks within the terminal from over 16 minutes to under 9 minutes, a decrease of 46.5%. However, a further increase in the number of straddles results in no further increase in daily throughput. It was observed that the throughput of the terminal is very sensitive to the speeds at which straddles travel. The management of the terminal has proposed a new heuristic job assignment rule for straddles, because the present rule does not assign the jobs to straddles closest to the truck requesting to load or unload a container. As a result a new heuristic job assignment rule was tested. The simulation results revealed that both the old and new rules performed equally well using performance indicators such as average container flow time, daily throughput, average waiting time of jobs, number of jobs in the queue, and straddle utilisation. Therefore, the new rule will not improve these performance measures if implemented     

Application of the reverse 3D scanning method to evaluate the wear of forging tools divided on two selected areas

This study is focused on tools used in the industrial hot forging process of a front wheel forging (eventually–gear wheel) manufactured for the automotive industry. Four different variants were applied for the tools: 2 die inserts were coated with two different hybrid layers (GN + PVD type), i.e. AlCrTiN and AlCrTiSiN, one insert was only nitrided, and one was pad welded, to improve tool durability. The tool wear was analysed and represented by the material degradation on the working surface, based on the 3D scanning and the material growth of the periodically collected forgings. Additionally, the scanned tools were divided into two areas, in which it was found, based on the reliminary analysis, that various degradation mechanisms are predominant. Microstructural and hardness measurements of the analyzed tools were also performed. Based on the results, it was found that, in the central part of the die insert (area A), thermo-mechanical fatigue and wear occurred, while in the area of the bridge insert (area B), only abrasive wear could be observed. For these areas (A and B), the loss of material was determined separately. In area A for the inserts with hybrid layer GN+AlCrTiSiN and gas nitrided, an intensive increase of wear took place, which was not observed for the pad welded and GN+AlCrTiN layer insert, for which, together with the increase of the forging number, a proportional growth of the loss of material occurred. In area B the weakest results were obtained for the insert with GN+AlCrTiSiN layer, while wear of other die inserts grew similar and proportional.     

Finite element modeling of hydrostatic stress distribution in copper dual-damascene interconnects

Hydrostatic stresses of copper dual-damascene interconnects are calculated by a commercial finite element software in this paper. The analytical work is performed to examine the effects of different low-k (k is permittivity) dielectrics, barrier layer and aspect ratio of via on hydrostatic stress distribution in the copper interconnects. The results of calculation indicate that the hydrostatic stresses are highly non-uniform throughout the copper interconnects and the highest tensile hydrostatic stress exists on the top interface of lower level interconnect near via. Both the high coefficient of thermal expansion and the low elastic modulus of the low-k dielectrics and barrier layer can decrease the highest hydrostatic stress on the top interface, which can improve the reliability of the copper interconnects.     

Lightweight mixture faults detection method for gasoline engine using on-line trend analysis

Mixture faults detection is meaningful for gasoline engines because proper mixture is the basic prerequisite for healthy running of a combustion engine. Among existing methods for faults detection, the data-driven trend analysis technique is widely used due to the simplicity and efficiency in time-domain. The CUSUM (Cumulative Sum Of Errors) algorithm is good at real-time trend extraction, but it’s easy to be costly on the fuel trim signal during the engine in normal working conditions, which will increase battery energy consumption because engine failure is rarely occurs. Hence, the conventional treatment methods of artifacts in the CUSUM algorithm are modified by means of decay function and detection time analysis. The thresholds are tuned according to the characteristics of artifacts instead of residual variability, which leads to better results of trend extraction and less computation. Then, the revised CUSUM algorithm is used for monitoring the mixture abnormal behaviors, and the mixture faults can be detected in real time through analyzing the variation features of fuel trim signal. The lightweight faults detector using the advanced CUSUM algorithm (FD-A-CUSUM) is evaluated on the experimental data collected from a Ford engine. The validation results show that while engine works under normal conditions, the computation of FD-A-CUSUM has decreased by 72.79 % in comparison with the detection method using the original CUSUM algorithm (FD-O-CUSUM), and the false alarm ratio of FD-A-CUSUM is 3.37 %. Futhermore, the detection results of FD-A-CUSUM for two leakage faults have achieved 91.18 % test accuracy.     

Physical–biological coupling in spore dispersal of kelp forest macroalgae

The physical–biological linkages controlling the dispersal of spores produced by macroalgae that reside in kelp forests are complicated and laced with feedbacks. Here we discuss the fundamental elements of these interactions. Biological considerations include spore swimming and sinking speeds, their periods of viability in the plankton, and the height of spore release above the seafloor, which together determine the durations over which spores can be swept by horizontal currents before they contact the seafloor. Morphologies and material properties of canopy forming kelps may also influence the drag exerted on passing waters by the kelps, the plants' ability to persist in the face of rapid flows, and thereby the degree to which impinging currents are redirected around, or slowed within, kelp forests. Macroalgal life histories, and the size of spore sources as controlled by the dimensions of kelp forests and the density and fecundity of individuals within them, influence effective dispersal distances as well. Physical considerations encompass the mean speed, direction, and timescales of variability of currents relative to spore suspension times, the interaction of surface gravity waves with currents in producing turbulence in the benthic boundary layer, wind-driven surface mixing, water stratification, and shoreline bathymetry and substratum roughness, all of which can affect the interplay of vertical and horizontal transport of macroalgal spores. Intricate within-forest processes may induce attenuation of current speeds and consequent reductions in seabed shear, along with simultaneous production of small-scale turbulence in kelp wakes. Slower mean currents and smaller eddy scales in turn may attenuate vertical mixing within forests, thus extending spore suspension times. Further complexities likely arise due to changes in the relative rates of horizontal and vertical dispersion, modifications to the overall profiles of vertical mixing, and the creation of fine-scale secondary flows around kelp individuals and substratum features. Under conditions of more rapid currents, submergence of the surface canopy and the establishment of skimming flows at the canopy–fluid interface may introduce additional coherent flow structures that alter rates of fluid exchange to and from the forest. Many of these coupled physical–biological processes are just beginning to be examined in a rigorous fashion in kelp forests, but their potential importance is clear.     

欧洲跨境运输用司机台

就欧洲铁路跨境运输用司机台项目开发了能方便今后铁路跨境运输的司机台.该司机台的特点是改善了司机台的人机工程学、可单手操作牵引制动转换开关和使用了现代化的终端技术.在仿真运行中对具有功能的演示司机台进行了首批试验,获得大家的高度肯定.     

城市轨道交通最新技术及评定

文章对城市轨道交通系统进行分类、并对其最新发展和商业化运营趋势及其所用的安全评定方法进行了论述.     

Numerical method for simulating tire rolling noise by the concept of periodically exciting contact force

For the numerical simulation of tire rolling noise, an important subject is the extraction of normal velocity data of the tire surface that are essential for the acoustic analysis. In the current study, a concept of periodically exciting contact force is introduced to effectively extract the tire normal velocity data. The ground contact pressure within contact patch that is obtained by the static tire contact analysis is periodically applied to the whole tread surface of stationary tire. The periodically exciting contact forces are sequentially applied with a time delay corresponding to the tire rolling speed. The tire vibration is analyzed by the mode superposition in the frequency domain, and the acoustic analysis is performed by commercial BEM code. The proposed method is illustrated through the numerical experiment of 3-D smooth tire model and verified from the comparison with experiment, and furthermore the acoustical responses are investigated to the tire rolling speed.