Appraisal of investments in European nodal centres for goods – freight villages: A comparative analysis

The paper presents and analyses appraisal methods used for the assessment of potential investments in Nodal Centers for Goods (also called Freight Villages), which constitute an essential element of the Trans-European Network for Intermodal Transport. A methodological procedure is applied to identify the underlying factors that influence the choice of an appraisal method, without assessing or comparing the appraisal methods themselves. Following this procedure, issues addressed by the methods are grouped into three broad dimensions and with the use of non-parametric statistical tests, existing relationships are identified between nodal centres' characteristics, the appraisal methods, as well as the actors involved in the decision process. On applying the above procedure to European Nodal Centres for goods, it is found that the choice of appraisal method and the decision criteria for the investment are linked primarily to the nodal centre's size, catchment area, and the support or absence of political approval for the investment. The results of the analysis can be particularly useful at the policy making level, serving as non-formal "qualitative guidelines" to identify the appraisal method to be applied, as well as the options and impacts to be considered. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Market segmentation as a mechanism in allowing for variability of traveller behaviour

A major problem with aggregate transport planning models is the accounting of variability in traveller behaviour when the basic unit of analysis is the geographical traffic zone. In an attempt to allow for this variance, recent attention has been given to the role of socio-economic (user and household) characteristics in systematically identifying a homogeneous grouping of travellers with respect to the issue under study rather than restricting the grouping definition according to physical geographical criteria alone. This homogeneous grouping criterion combined eventually with a necessity to represent travel demand in a spatial context, can assist in improving our ability to explain real travel patterns by the development of an improved aggregation condition. The emphasis is on modelling homogeneous groups of travellers separately, and then relating the individual sets of results to each other to obtain an aggregate prediction of behaviour via a knowledge of the representativeness of each group contained in the total sample. This paper presents a technique to identify the relative homogeneity of travellers in accordance with a specified criterion, and illustrates its use with individual household data for the Sydney Metropolitan Area. The paper concludes with a discussion of the advantages of segmentation in operational transport planning, in particular with reference to the aggregation of disaggregate behavioural travel choice models, or movement from a micro-model of individual choice behaviour to an aggregate model of travel demanu.     

An analysis of trip length and land use patterns in the Greater Athens Area

The research described in this paper is an attempt to quantify the impact of a certain distribution of land uses upon trip characteristics — notably trip lengths. The idea is to relate trip lengths classified by mode and purpose to the distance of one trip end from the conurbation centre. The latter is defined as the point which represents a reasonable estimate of the place where the economic, administrative, and cultural life of the urban area is centered.By relating trip lengths to the distance of one trip end from the centre, one could obtain a relation which in effect would be a quantitative expression of the relation between transport and land use. The first application of this idea was in London using the 1966 journey to work data, and it gave quite satisfactory results.The area examined in this research is the Greater Athens Area. The method of analysis is similar to that followed in London so the results of the two studies can be compared. Only work trips are considered for four modes: car, bus, train and all modes (total). It is found that in the case of Athens too, when distance of the workplace from the centre is considered, trip lengths change in smoothly varying ways and a series of mathematical curves can be fitted to the data with an acceptable degree of accuracy. These curves are of the Gamma family having a constant spread factor and varying scale factors for each mode considered. When the distance of the residence end of the trip from the centre is considered, the trip length distributions are not very smooth, a clear mathematical curve cannot be fitted, but again a considerable degree of order can be detected. In addition to the above results a discussion is given on their meaning and the possibilities for future research. In fact the results so far are considered to be the first stage of a more extended research programme which will eventually connect trip length distributions to income and other economic or social parameters in an urban area.The author wishes to express his thanks and appreciation for the comments and constructive criticism made on the various drafts of this paper by M.J.M.     

Do new sources of traffic data make the application of Chaos Theory to traffic management a realistic possibility?

Current signal systems for managing road traffic in many urban areas around the world lack a coordinated approach to detecting the spatial and temporal evolution of congestion across control regions within city networks. This severely inhibits these systems’ ability to detect reliably, on a strategic level, the onset of congestion and implement effective preventative action. As traffic is a time-dependent and non-linear system, Chaos Theory is a prime candidate for application to Urban Traffic Control (UTC) to improve congestion and pollution management. Previous applications have been restricted to relatively uncomplicated motorway and inter-urban networks, arguably where the associated problems of congestion and vehicle emissions are less severe, due to a general unavailability of high-resolution temporal and spatial data that preserve the variability in short-term traffic patterns required for Chaos Theory to work to its full potential. This paper argues that this restriction can now be overcome due to the emergence of new sources of high-resolution data and large data storage capabilities. Consequently, this opens up the real possibility for a new generation of UTC systems that are better able to detect the dynamic states of traffic and therefore more effectively prevent the onset of traffic congestion in urban areas worldwide.     

Distributed algorithm for empty vehicles management in personal rapid transit (PRT) network

In this paper, an original heuristic algorithm of empty vehicles management in personal rapid transit network is presented. The algorithm is used for the delivery of empty vehicles for waiting passengers, for balancing the distribution of empty vehicles within the network, and for providing an empty space for vehicles approaching a station. Each of these tasks involves a decision on the trip that has to be done by a selected empty vehicle from its actual location to some determined destination. The decisions are based on a multi‐parameter function involving a set of factors and thresholds. An important feature of the algorithm is that it does not use any central database of passenger input (demand) and locations of free vehicles. Instead, it is based on the local exchange of data between stations: on their states and on the vehicles they expect. Therefore, it seems well‐tailored for a distributed implementation. The algorithm is uniform, meaning that the same basic procedure is used for multiple tasks using a task‐specific set of parameters. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cohort analysis of driving cessation and limitation among older adults

Automobiles are central to participation in economic, social, and cultural activities in the United States. The ability to drive as one ages is fundamental to the quality of life among older adults. Driving rates decline significantly with age. Researchers using cross-sectional data have studied the reasons former drivers have stopped driving, but few have followed individuals over time to examine changes in relationships among driving cessation, socio-demographics, and health conditions. We used longitudinal data from a national sample of 20,000 observations from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine relationships among demographic variables, health conditions, and driving reduction and driving cessation. Longitudinal data allow analysis of generational differences in behavior, a major advantage over cross-sectional data which only allow comparisons of different people at one point in time. We found, like many other studies, that personal decisions to limit and eventually stop driving vary with sex, age, and health conditions. In addition, unlike most previous studies, we also found that those relationships differ by birth cohort with younger cohorts less likely to stop and limit their driving than their older counterparts. The findings indicate an evolution in the association between driving cessation and its causes.

     

Application of an improved EEMD method in bearing fault diagnosis of induction motors北大核心CSCD

[Objective]In order to overcome the disadvantages of the traditional ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) method in selecting parameters (integration time and white noise amplitude coefficient) based on experience, and reduce the cost of calculation time, a fast ensemble empirical mode decomposition (FEEMD) method is used to extract the characteristic frequency. [Method]By changing the distribution density of the added white noise, different signal envelopes can be obtained. Furthermore, we can identify the optimal envelope by finding the optimal search window width of the moving mean filter, thereby avoiding the defect of EEMD selecting parameters by experience. At the same time, after the abnormal component in the signal is decomposed, the residual component can be decomposed by EMD to further save the calculation time cost. Finally, the method is combined with Hilbert envelope demodulation technology and applied to the fault characteristic frequency diagnosis of the bearing inner ring of an asynchronous motor. [Results]As the results show, compared with the traditional EEMD method, FEEMD can extract the fault frequency more efficiently. [Conclusion]FEEMD overcomes the disadvantages of the traditional EEMD method in selecting parameters based on experience and shortens the calculation time. As such, it can be effectively applied in bearing fault frequency extraction experiments. © The Author(s) 2022.     

上软下硬地层大直径土压平衡盾构下穿民房建筑群沉降控制北大核心CSCD

依托广州地铁18号线盾构施工,针对其地层分布复杂、软硬差异大及穿越密集民房建筑群等特点,通过注浆加固、现场动态监测、优化掘进参数等一系列主动措施,解决实际工程中掘进参数合理取值与地表建筑沉降变形控制两大难题。研究结果表明:(1)在该类软硬地层中掘进时,刀盘在通过不同岩层断面分界线时扭矩、推力等参数波动较大,总推力与扭矩有良好的相关性,各掘进参数宜控制为:推力30000~35000 kN、扭矩4500~6000 kN·m、推进速度35~45 mm/min;(2)提出的多段式封孔洞内超前注浆工艺可使刀盘前18 m范围内的地表上抬3~5 mm,最大上抬值能达9.02 mm,同时能缓解土体在盾构下穿时及后续固结稳定的沉降趋势;(3)因刀具磨损、掘进参数波动大、螺旋机卡死等引起的临时停机会造成地表建筑日沉降速率超过3 mm/d,在预设停机点位置前采取洞内超前注浆和克泥效工法能有效缓解沉降趋势,在带压开舱期间日沉降速率控制在2 mm/d以下;(4)左右隧道轴线附近的地表建筑沉降基本可分为“微小隆起—沉降较大—逐渐稳定”三个阶段,测点最大沉降值最终稳定在-21.38 mm、-22.49 mm,均小于控制值。     

Study on Mechanical Properties of Tunnel Lining Structure with Spray-applied Waterproofing Membrane北大核心CSCD

In order to study the influence of spray-applied waterproofing membrane layer on the mechanical properties of tunnel lining structure, a numerical calculation model of composite lining, spray-applied waterproofing lining and single-shell lining is established according to the mechanical parameters and interface parameters of waterproofing membrane measured by tests, and comparative analysis is made on the mechanical properties of the three types of lining structures. The research results show that: (1) compared with the composite lining, the stress of the secondary lining in the spray-applied waterproofing lining structure is significantly reduced, and the stress of the initial support has little change, but the displacement of both the initial support and the secondary lining increases; (2) in the spray-applied waterproofing lining structure, the whole section of the secondary lining is in the state of small eccentric compression, and the safety factor is greatly improved; (3) spray-applied waterproofing membrane layer can improve the cooperative force-bearing capacity of initial support and secondary lining, and improve the stress state of secondary lining, which is beneficial to improve the safety of secondary lining; and (4) with the increase of the cooperative force-bearing capacity of spray-applied waterproofing lining structure, the internal force of spray-applied waterproofing lining structure will be infinitely close to that of single-shell lining structure. © 2022, Editorial Office of Modern Tunnelling Technology. All right reserved.