Consolidation and contestability in the European container handling industry

The first part of this paper brings into discussion some recent changes in the dynamics of the European container handling business, in particular as a result of vertical and horizontal integration strategies of container terminal operators. The industry structure has become sufficiently consolidated to raise a fundamental question about whether market forces are sufficient to prevent the abuse of market power. In this context, reference is made to the theory of contestable markets. The second part of the paper looks more closely to the issue of contestability by means of an exploratory and qualitative study of elements that could prevent other players entering or exiting the European container handling market. As such, a first indication is given of the degree of contestability in the container handling industry.     

Maritime liner shipping and the stevedoring industry: market structure and competition strategies

Globalization, liberalization, competition and spatial interaction are significant factors affecting the transformation of manufacturing industries worldwide. In the transportation and logistics industry, however, cooperation is becoming even more critical than competition in determining firms' efficiency. Cooperation has always characterized the liner sector in which strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions have generated twin effects: notable increases in ship size and falls in freight rates. Meanwhile, the stevedoring industry is undergoing privatization-driven consolidation and the emergence of global pure terminal operators. This article focuses on vertical integration between global carriers and terminal operators. We address the following key current issues:

• dedicated terminals as a strategy for cutting costs and controlling integrated transport chains;
• the struggle for supply chain control, involving global carriers versus global terminal operators, driven by financial power and technical and managerial capability.

We close analysing one of the core problems of the market, namely the evolving role of the dedicated terminals. For the pure stevedores they represent an opportunity to secure a cargo, while in the hands of the liners they enable cost stability and the possibility to put pressure on pure terminal operators.     

Parametric Hull Form Optimization of Containerships for Minimum Resistance in Calm Water and in Waves

This paper described the process of generating the optimal parametric hull shape with a fully parametric modeling method for three containerships of different s...     

Book review

Onshore Planning for Offshore Oil—Lessons from Scotland by Pamela L. Baldwin and Malcolm F. Baldwin The Conservation Foundation, Washington, D.C., 1975     

主动和被动的冻土地温控制方法和技术

研究目的：主动和被动地温控制是冻土地温控制的基本方法。但如何对主动和被动的概念进行准确区分,目前在国内外却有所混淆,因此对主动和被动地温控制技术提出明确的划分显得尤为重要。研究结论：国际上普遍从能量的观点来区分——被动地温是在运行期问不需人为提供动力,也没有任何不停运动的机械部件,是冻土地温控制最常用的技术;而主动地温控制方法,需要动力支持或温控系统中有持续运动的部件,其显著的特点在于对冻结过程的人为可控制性和提供能量消耗。冻土地温控制的计算,有许多长期以来的研究公式及图表,但更为精确的计算,要利用一些成熟的模型进行模拟。     

Fuel economy comparison of conventional drive trains series and parallel hybrid electric step vans

A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a vehicle that combines a conventional propulsion system with an on-board rechargeable energy storage system to achieve better fuel economy than a conventional vehicle HEVs do not have limited ranges like battery electric vehicles, which use batteries charged by an external source. The different propulsion power systems may have common subsystems or components. The objective of this study is to compare the fuel economies of a conventional step van, a series hybrid electric step van (HESV), and a parallel HESV by calculating the fuel consumption using the ADVISOR software by NREL. We also showed the results of the vehicles in different driving cycles including the Central Business District bus cycles, the New York City Cycle, and the US EPA City and Highway cycles.     

电控汽油机喷油脉宽与燃油消耗质量关系试验研究

针对目前电喷汽油机油耗测量带来的新问题,根据喷油器喷油量控制原理,研究利用测量喷油脉宽来测量燃油消耗质量的方法;开发了喷油器喷油脉宽测量仪,通过试验分析了发动机在不同负荷、不同转速时喷油脉宽与燃油消耗质量之间的关系,为随车油耗快速检测设备的开发提供了基础。     

Vibration transmission reduction from a centrifugal turbo blower in a fuel cell electric vehicle

This paper presents a multi-body flexible dynamic analysis of a centrifugal turbo blower for a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) based on the application of computer-aided engineering (CAE) to predict the acceleration at the mount position of the blower. This predicted acceleration is validated by using the measured acceleration data. The numerical simulation for the multi-body flexible dynamics of the blower is used not only to identify the most effective mount among four mounts in an FCEV by controlling the complex stiffness of the isolator, but also to suggest the range of complex stiffness of the isolator at the most effective mount. This numerical simulation technology can be useful for the estimation of the variation of vibration transmission for the structural modification of the turbo blower.