Experimental study of the flow induced by a vehicle fan and the effect of engine blockage in a simplified model

Fans are often tested without downstream blockage and, thus, the performance is considerably different when the fan is mounted in a vehicle as part of a cooling system and where high blockage effect is present downstream. The aim of the present work is to analyze by laser Doppler velocimetry LDV measurements the topology of the flow induced by a fan incorporated in a simplified underhood model reproducing engine blockage and to study the blockage effect of the engine positioning on the flow induced by the fan. The distance between the fan and the engine block affects the mean flow axial velocity U. The vertical velocity component W is greatly influenced by the variation of the distance between the fan and the engine block, both in magnitude and topology.     

Hydrological changes in the Mediterranean Sea in relation to changes in the freshwater budget: A numerical modelling study

The response of the Mediterranean Sea and the various sub-basins to changes in the freshwater budget are investigated in a process-oriented study, using the POM model. The model is first integrated using values of the Nile and Ebro rivers runoff, as well as of the Dardanelles freshwater input, typical of the fifties. The model reaches a steady state representative of that existing in the Mediterranean prior to the major damming period after 90 years of integration. Then the model is integrated using the reduced river runoff values typical of the after-damming period. The additional impact of decadal scale trends in the precipitation rate as well as of intense surface cooling periods/events on the thermohaline circulation during the last 40 years were also examined. The model results show that the dramatic reduction of the Nile freshwater input and to a lesser extent the reduction of the freshwater input from the Dardanelles Straits induced a large increase in the sea surface salinity in the Aegean and Levantine basins in the late sixties/early seventies, in agreement with observations. Furthermore, the Ebro runoff reduction during the same period further enhanced the salinity increase in the Levantine basin as higher salinity surface waters of the western basin reached the eastern basin via the Atlantic Water circulation. This saltier surface layer in the vicinity of the Rhodes Gyre favoured the preconditioning for the formation of the Levantine Intermediate Water, resulting in about 40% increase of its formation rate. This in turn resulted in the production of saltier and larger amounts of deep waters in the various deep-water formation sites. According to the model, the river damming and decreased precipitation since the eighties explain about 95% of the observed salinity increase in the Western Mediterranean Deep Water over the last 40 years. The major contributor to this increase was proved to be the Nile damming. The salt increase in the surface layer is proved to be insufficient to produce alone the two climatic transient events in the deep waters of the Eastern Mediterranean in the late sixties and early nineties, respectively. Surface cooling was found to be important, resulting in large deep water formation and thus allowing the propagation of the increased surface salinity signal to the deep layers. However, model results demonstrate that the river damming played an important role in the long-term salt preconditioning of the surface/intermediate layers, thus contributing in triggering the two events.     

Marine engineers’ training: Educational assessment for an engine room simulator

Qualitative upgrading of the educational process at university level marine education depends largely on the instructive value of the trainers’ educational software. Marine education software has developed out of a certain initial implementation in an equivalent manner to which the programs of practice and training have been applied in cases of simulations and programming environments. In most cases, educational software categories have developed without taking into consideration any special pedagogical theory.     

Lights, camera and acoustics: Assessing macrobenthic communities at a dredged material disposal site off the North East coast of the UK

This study presents the results of a trial assessment based on a combination of sampling techniques at a dredged material disposal site located off the North East coast of the UK, over 2001 to 2004. The site was surveyed with a high-resolution sidescan sonar system producing a mosaic with 100% coverage of the survey area. Benthic communities and sediments were ground-truthed using a Hamon grab with a video camera. Additionally, the area was also sampled in 2003 with a Sediment Profile Imaging (SPI) camera, which complemented other techniques by providing in situ information on sediment quality, and biogenic activities. An assessment is made of the benefits of combining the results from conventional methods, principally using grab samples, with those from acoustic techniques and optical imaging devices to determine seafloor and macrobenthic conditions. This information has the potential to contribute to the enhancement of routine monitoring programmes within UK waters.     

The Signs of the Times: Imposing a Globally Signed Condition on Willingness to Pay Distributions

A feature of recent developments in choice models that enable estimation of the distribution of willingness to pay (WTP) is that the sign of the distribution can change over the range. Behaviourally this often makes little sense for attributes such as travel time on non-discretionary travel, despite a growing recognition of positive utility over some travel time ranges. This can in part be attributed to the analytical distribution that is selected (except the cumbersome lognormal), many of which are unconstrained over the full range. Although a number of analysts have imposed constraints on various distributions for random parameters that can satisfy the single-sign condition, these restrictions are, with rare exception, only satisfied for the mean and the standard deviation estimates of a random parameter. When heterogeneity around the mean and/or heteroscedasticity around the standard deviation is allowed for, however, the constraint condition is often not satisfied. Given the popularity of distributions other than the lognormal, in order to satisfy the sign condition under the most general form of parameterisation, we need to impose a global sign condition. In this paper we show how this might be achieved in the context of the valuation of travel time savings for car commuters choosing amongst an offered set of route-specific travel times and costs. We illustrate the impact of the constraint under a globally constrained Rayleigh distribution for total travel time parameterisation, contrasting the evidence with a multinomial logit model and a range of other distributional assumptions within the mixed logit framework. Discussions with Bill Greene, John Rose, Ken Train and especially Juan de Dios Ortuzar have been invaluable as have the comments of referees.     

Minimum order bang-bang guidance for feedforward obstacle avoidance steering maneuvers of vehicles

In this paper, a new methodology is presented for computing time-optimal obstacle avoidance maneuvers for ground vehicles. Usually, the problem of obstacle avoidance is addressed in two parts. In the first part a path is planned. In the second an appropriately designed vehicle controller tracks the desired path. In view of the fact that the main problem concerning emergency maneuvers remains the development of an optimal control for minimum time and maximum maneuverability — with respect to the slip risk due to saturation of the tire forces — the authors propose an alternative approach. Considering that the time optimal control according to Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle (PMP) is of bang-bang type the investigations concern the minimum order and magnitude bang-bang control for “feedforward” steering maneuvers with the target of minimizing the computation time and simplifying the algorithm. This is accomplished by keeping the basic PMP logic but transforming the computational algorithm from an exact to a least squares control problem. Furthermore, the paper addresses how to solve the problem of guiding the vehicle from a non rest to a rest position. Simulations of obstacle avoidance maneuvers illustrate the performance of the controller.     

Design,manufacturing and evaluation of glass/polyester composite crash structures for lightweight vehicles

The development and validation of a modular composite impact structure is presented in the present paper. Quasi-static and dynamic impact tests of the composite components and a full frontal crash test of a vehicle prototype with composite impact structures manufactured by a new UV-pultrusion process have been performed. The results have demonstrated the feasibility of composite impact structures for crash applications with high specific energy absorption values compared with current metallic crash structures. Furthermore, due to the high production capacity of this new manufacturing process, cost-effective composite impact structures for mass-production of conventional cars may be feasible. Finally, a multimaterial numerical model as design tool for crashworthiness applications has also been validated. Different accelerations measured in the crash test have been accurately predicted as well as the crash behaviour of the composite impact structures.     

A spatial decision support system for retail plan generation and impact assessment

Current geographic information systems typically offer limited analytical capabilities and lack the flexibility to support spatial decision making effectively. Spatial decision support systems aim to fill this gap. Following this approach, this paper describes an operational system for integrated land-use and transportation planning called Location Planner. The system integrates a wide variety of spatial models in a flexible and easy-to-use problem solving environment. Users are able to construct a model out of available components and use the model for impact analysis and optimization. Thus, in contrast to existing spatial decision support systems, the proposed system allows users to address a wide range of problems. The paper describes the architecture of the system and an illustrative application. Furthermore, the potentials of the system for land-use and transportation planning are discussed.     

A numerical study of stochastic larval settlement in the California Current system

Key to the predictive understanding of many nearshore marine ecosystems is the transport of larvae by ocean circulation processes. Many species release thousands to billions of larvae to develop in pelagic waters, but only a few lucky ones successfully settle to suitable habitat and recruit to adult life stages. Methodologies for predicting the larval dispersal are still primitive, and simple diffusive analyses are still used for many important applications. In this study, we investigate mechanisms of larval dispersal using idealized simulations of time-evolving coastal circulations in the California Current system with Lagrangian particles as models for planktonic larvae. Connectivity matrices, which describe the source-to-destination relationships for larval dispersal for a given larval development time course, are used to diagnose the time–space dynamics of larval settlement. The resulting connectivity matrices are shown to be a function of several important time scales, such as the planktonic larval duration, the frequency and duration of larval release events and inherent time scales for the coastal circulations. Many important fishery management applications require knowledge of fish stocks on a year-to-year or generation-to-generation basis. For these short time scales (typically less than 1 year), larval dispersal is generally far from a simple diffusive process and the consideration of the stochastic and episodic nature of larval dispersal is required. This work provides new insights into the spatial–temporal dynamics of nearshore fish stocks.