Factors associated with bicycle ownership and use: a study of six small U.S. cities

As a means of transportation and as a form of physical activity, bicycling generates benefits to the bicyclist as well as to the community as a whole. Bicycling now accounts for less than 1 percent of all trips for all purposes in the U.S., but evidence from other western countries suggests that under the right conditions, bicycling levels can be significantly higher. Indeed, the experiences of some U.S. cities suggest that it is possible to create conditions conducive to higher levels of bicycling even in the U.S. However, the extent to which bicycle investments have contributed to bicycling levels in these communities has not been rigorously assessed. The purpose of this study is to provide a better understanding of the determinants of bicycle ownership and use as a basis for identifying ways to promote bicycling. A cross-sectional study of six cities was designed to test the importance of bicycle infrastructure and other physical environment factors relative to individual factors and social environment factors, using a nested logit model to examine ownership and use decisions jointly. The results show strong effects of individual attitudes and physical and social environment factors on bicycle ownership and use.     

基于PHA-LEC-SCL法公路隧道施工安全评价研究

为了制定科学的公路隧道施工安全评价的基本模式,针对公路隧道施工的危险、有害因素的危害程度及特殊工艺,将公路隧道施工系统分为隧道开挖、爆破、施工用电、施工通风、出碴与洞内运输、支护衬砌等6个主要子系统.运用预先危险性分析法(PHA)对公路隧道施工的危险、危害因素进行辨识和定性分析,结合作业条件危险性评价法(LEC)对公路隧道施工系统中各子系统进行危险性评价,定量分析计算PHA中的子系统各个危险因素的危险等级,并采用安全检查表(SCL)对公路隧道施工现场进行安全综合评价,建立了安全评价方法之间的内在联系.PHA-LEC-SCL法确立了公路隧道施工安全评价的基本模式.     

Investigation on the formation mechanism of ordered carbide (FeMn)<Subscript>3</Subscript>AlC in the Al added twinning-induced plasticity steels

The spinodal composition zone in Al added Fe-Mn-Al-C twinning-induced plasticity（TWIP） steels can be determined by contents of Al and C and aging temperature together, based on the thermodynamic analysis. Precipitation of ordered（FeMn）₃AlC carbide by the mechanism of spinodal decomposition occurs in the C-rich and Al-rich zone with low aging temperature. Increase of aging temperature shrinks spinodal composition zone to the high Al and C contents. As a result, the precipitation of（FeMn）₃AlC carbide alters from spinodal decomposition to classical nucleation-growth manner gradually. Further calculation indicates that the diffusion of Al can play a key role in determining the growth rate of（FeMn）₃AlC carbide at high aging temperature.     

A hybrid firefly algorithm for optimizing fractional proportional-integral-derivative controller in ship steering

In this paper, a new algorithm which integrates the powerful firefly algorithm(FA) and the ant colony optimization(ACO) has been used in tracking control of ship steering for optimization of fractional-order proportional-integral-derivative(FOPID) controller gains. Particle swarm optimization(PSO) algorithm is also used to optimize FOPID controllers, and their performances are compared. It is found that FA optimized FOPID controller gives better performance than others. Sensitivity analysis has been carried out to see the robustness of optimum FOPID gains obtained at nominal conditions to wide changes in system parameters, and the optimum FOPID gains need not be reset for wide changes in system parameters.     

Human reliability analysis method on armored vehicle system considering error correction

Human reliability analysis(HRA) is an expansion of man-machine engineering. It is also a new multidisciplinary based on behavioral science, cognitive science, information processing, system analysis and probability statistics in order to analyze, predict, reduce and prevent human errors. Firstly, the quantitative analysis model of HRA is proposed based on Markov process theory by using human error probability(HEP) and error correction cycle(ECC) as parameters. And human reliability evaluation criterion is built. Then, the HRA process considering error correction is proposed based on cognitive reliability and error analysis method(CREAM). Finally, according to the characteristics of armored vehicle system, common performance condition(CPC) in CREAM is improved.A reliability impact index is characterized by the overall contexts of tasks. Human reliability evaluation criterion of armored vehicle system is formulated. And the result of HRA is obtained based on the method presented in this paper. In addition, the relative weights are estimated by combining scale of 10/10—18/2 and analytical hierarchy process(AHP), and the triangular fuzzy number considering confidence factor and optimism index is adopted in order to reduce the subjectivity. The analysis results show that the method presented in this paper is reasonable and feasible. Meantime, the method can provide guidance for human reliability analysis of other weapon systems.     

Dynamic modeling and active control of a strap-on launch vehicle

Dynamic modeling and active control of a strap-on launch vehicle are studied in this paper. In the dynamic modeling, the double-compatible free-interface modal synthesis method is used to establish dynamic model of the system, and its model precision is compared with those of finite element method(FEM), fixedinterface modal synthesis method and free-interface modal synthesis method. In the active control, the swing angle of rocket motor is used as design variable, and the control law design based on the model of mass center motion is adopted to validate the system. Simulation results indicate that the double-compatible model synthesis method can properly approximate the FEM which is used as the benchmark solution, and the model precision of the double-compatible modal synthesis method is obviously higher than those of the fixed-interface and freeinterface modal synthesis methods. Based on the control law design, the deflection of mass center of the launch vehicle is very small.     

Coupled heat and mass transfer analysis of NH<Subscript>3</Subscript>-H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O falling film absorption on inner tube surface with low solution flow rates

NH₃-H₂O falling film absorption usually takes place with low solution flow rate in real absorption refrigeration system. An experimental study of inner vertical absorption is carried out for the consideration of air-cooling absorber. Variable working conditions are tested to evaluate the heat and mass transfer performances.The traditional evaluation method based on log-mean-temperature（concentration） difference is criticized for its lack of theoretical basis while simultaneous heat and mass transfer process occurs. A new method proposed by Kim and Infante Ferreira is modified to evaluate the experimental results with reasonable assumptions. The method is based on the derivation of coupled heat and mass transfer differential equations of NH₃-H₂O absorption process.The analysis of the same experimental data shows that the new method realizes better consistency with smaller error, especially in heat transfer aspect. Heat and mass transfer performance is enhanced with the increase of solution Reynolds number. Sub-cooling of inlet weak solution also has positive influence on the absorption process,which should be evaluated by the new method correctly. Two correlations are developed to evaluate both Nusselt and Sherwood numbers for the design of air-cooling absorber.     

A bayesian based process monitoring and fixture fault diagnosis approach in the auto body assembly process

The auto body process monitoring and the root cause diagnosis based on data-driven approaches are vital ways to improve the dimension quality of sheet metal assemblies. However, during the launch time of the process mass production with an off-line measurement strategy, the traditional statistical methods are difficult to perform process control effectively. Based on the powerful abilities in information fusion, a systematic Bayesian based quality control approach is presented to solve the quality problems in condition of incomplete dataset. For the process monitoring, a Bayesian estimation method is used to give out-of-control signals in the process. With the abnormal evidence, the Bayesian network (BN) approach is employed to identify the fixture root causes. A novel BN structure and the conditional probability training methods based on process knowledge representation are proposed to obtain the diagnostic model. Furthermore, based on the diagnostic performance analysis, a case study is used to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Results show that the Bayesian based method has a better diagnostic performance for multi-fault cases.