Optimisation and heuristic approaches for assigning inbound containers to outbound carriers

Due to economical and/or geographical constraints, most of the time overseas containers cannot be directly shipped to their destinations. These containers visit transhipment ports where they are first unloaded and temporarily stored and then loaded onto smaller vessels (feeders) to be transported to their final destinations. The assignment of these containers to outbound vessels necessitates several factors to be taken into account simultaneously. In this paper, we develop a mathematical model to reflect multiple objectives with priorities and to assign these containers to different vessels at the transit container port terminal. Although we solve a single-objective (with the weighted sum of objectives) mathematical model to optimality, we also propose two heuristic approaches to solve this complex problem for a transit agency. The first heuristic is shipment based and has four variants differing in how the opportunity costs of the assignments are calculated. The second greedy heuristic is trip based, where the goal is to maximise the capacity utilisation of the vessels. The heuristics return very promising solutions in ignorable computational times. We also provide real-life cases and present our conclusions.     

由多孔介质注射的微气泡和气层对减小自航驳船模型拖曳力效果的比较研究（英文）

Ship resistance issues are related to fuel economy, speed, and cost efficiency. Air lubrication is a promising technique for lowering hull frictional resistance as it is supposed to modify the energy in the turbulent boundary layer and thereby reduce hull friction. In this paper, the objective is to identify the optimum type of air lubrication using microbubble drag reduction(MBDR)and air layer drag reduction(ALDR) techniques to reduce the resistance of a 56-m Indonesian self-propelled barge(SPB). A model with the following dimensions was constructed: length L = 2000 mm, breadth B = 521.60 mm, and draft T = 52.50 mm.The ship model was towed using standard towing tank experimental parameters. The speed was varied over the Froude number range 0.11–0.31. The air layer flow rate was varied at 80, 85, and 90 standard liters per minute(SLPM) and the microbubble injection coefficient over the range 0.20–0.60. The results show that the ship model using the air layer had the highest drag reduction up to a maximum of 90%. Based on the characteristics of the SPB, which operates at low speed, the optimum air lubrication type to reduce resistance in this instance is ALDR.     

Key Techniques for Lean Construction Management of the High Speed Railway Tunnels北大核心CSCD

Improvements of management mode and application level of informationization techniques are the key factors to safe and efficient construction of the high-speed railway tunnels considering the complexity and diversity of construction techniques, unpredictable risk factors and varied geological conditions. In the paper it proposed a management mode for lean construction of high-speed railway tunnels, studied the in-depth integration and applica⁃ tion of key technologies of BIM, advance geological prediction, tunnel surrounding rock measurement, 3D laser scan⁃ ning, etc. in the lean construction management of high-speed railway tunnels, and developed the light portal APP and cloud-based information management system. Through the verification of practical engineering application, it re⁃ alized good monitoring of key risk resources in tunnel construction, redline control for key tasks and effective manage⁃ ment of safety and quality, increased efficiency of collaborative operation of all parties involved and reached the goal of lean construction and management. © 2018, Editorial Office of "Modern Tunnelling Technology". All right reserved.     

A Preliminary Study on the Law of Ground Settlement Caused by Shield Tunnelling Based on the Stratum Characteristic Value M S北大核心CSCD

Based on an analysis of monitoring data of surface settlement in the construction of a shield running tunnel of Beijing metro, an improved hyperbolic model was proposed to fit the ground subsidence law, and the characteris⁃ tic factor M S was used to evaluate the stratum under the condition of shield construction. The relationship between stratum parameters and surface settlement was studied, with the results indicate that the surface settlement caused by shield construction complies with hyperbolic distribution and it is basically stable at 30 days, the larger the value of M S is, the better the conditions of the stratum is and the smaller the settlement is; a certain correlation exists be⁃ tween the parameters of improved hyperbolic model and the characteristic value M S . © 2018, Editorial Office of "Modern Tunnelling Technology". All right reserved.     

Contrastive Analysis of Working Face Stability in Cases of Climbing Excavation and Horizontal Excavation北大核心CSCD

Restricted by site and construction period of ancillary structure of metro project, climbing excavation is often adopted. In order to determine tunnel face’s stability, the stabilities of working face in the cases of climbing ex- cavation and horizontal excavation were analyzed by theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. With upperbound limit analysis, the affected scope and positions of failure zone were compared; the position of equivalent strain zone and the law of horizontal displacement changes were studied by simulation analysis. The results show that the scope of failure zone caused by climbing excavation was slightly larger than that by horizontal excavation and the po- sition of affected zone is slightly lower than that by horizontal excavation; the horizontal displacement caused by climbing excavation within a scope of 0-1/3 height of tunnel face is slightly larger than that by horizontal excavation while it is slightly smaller beyond the scope of 0-1/3 height of tunnel face; the maximum horizontal displacements in the cases of climbing and horizontal excavation both occur at the place where is 1/3 height of work face and the de- formation of work face in the case of climbing excavation is not larger than that of horizontal excavation; the work face stabilities are mostly the same in the cases of climbing and horizontal excavation without regard to advanced support, and the work face stability is to be guaranteed with proper advanced support. © 2018, Editorial Office of "Modern Tunnelling Technology". All right reserved.     

Unreliable trains and induced rescheduling: implications for cost-benefit analysis

This paper is concerned with the assessment of generalized user cost reductions in the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of transport policies that aim at reducing unreliability. In particular, we investigate the implications of railway passengers’ anticipating departure behavior when train services were unreliable. A simple model is established to describe and predict such anticipating behavior. Our numerical example shows how travelers’ anticipating departures and scheduling costs depend on the level of unreliability. The possible bias incurred by ignoring the reliability and schedule delay costs reductions in the traditional CBA can be quite substantial. Given our assumptions and parameterization, the underestimation of ignoring these costs could range from 33 to 75% of total generalized user cost reductions.     

A multi-instrumented approach to observing the activity rescheduling decision process

Activity scheduling simulation models represent an emerging and proposing approach to forecasting travel demand. The most significant developmental challenge is the lack of empirical data on how people actually proceed through the scheduling and conflict resolution process. This paper develops a new methodology to collect data about the rescheduling decision process. The data collection involves six stages: preplanned schedule interview, coding of the preplanned schedule, second-by-second Global Positioning System tracking, internet-based prompted recall diary, detection of rescheduling decisions (via comparison of planned versus executed activities), and a final in-depth interview probing the how and why of rescheduling decisions. Each stage of the methodology is described in detail with example results drawn from a pilot study. Key discoveries include: elicitation of multiple preplanned schedule reporting methods (verbal, point-form, calendar); discovery that activity attributes (time, location, involved persons) are planned on significantly different time horizons and include partial elaboration; and provision of new insights into how and why rescheduling decisions are made. A method for automatically tracking rescheduling decisions was also discovered. Overall, the new methodology has potential to contribute to the development of more realistic models of the entire scheduling process, especially rescheduling and conflict resolution sub-models.     

Computer Aided Simulation on Precision Cold Forging of Universal Joint Cross

IntroductionThefiwtee1emenmethod(FEM)playsanextrmelyimPortantroleintheanalysesofengineeringproblems.ForalongtimethismethodhasmainlybeenaPPliedinthelinearfieldandshownitsgreatpower.HoweveealOtofnonlinearengineeringPrOblemsWhichcanneitherbesimPlyreducedtolinearonesnorrCPresentedbylinearlyanalogywhichshallchnsethePfacticalconditionsrelativelymuch,havechallengedfiniteelementmethod(FEM).RecentymuchProgresshasbeenmadebothinthemathematicalandmechanicaltheoryandthecomPulertechnologysothatevent…     

The Effects of Lateral Front Fork Flexibility on the Vibrational Modes of Straight-Running Single-Track Vehicles

By means of a mathematical model the effects of lateral front fork flexibility on the vibrational modes of single-track vehicles have been studied. The analysis performed by Sharp has been used as a starting point. The results have been compared with Roe's empirical findings. The results of the analysis have been translated into practical advice for a more optimal front fork construction.     

African shippers' organizations: the Ghanaian experience

This paper looks at how the Shippers' Council could operate to make shipping cost-effective and to play its role as a servant of trade a servant of the shippers. It looks at the key problems that confront the shipper requiring intervention by a Shippers' Council and surveys how the organization of the Shippers' Council effectively handles problems. The final sections draw conclusions which could contribute to increasing the efficiency of Shippers' Councils, as well as improving the understanding of the Councils as managers of the demand side of shipping.