A method for measuring accurate traffic density by aerial photography

Traffic density can be accurately measured by counting the number of vehicles within 1 km; however, it is often calculated between macroscopic traffic parameters using the fundamental equation because of difficulty of observing traffic density directly in the field. Measuring density in this way may be inaccurate and may bias the analysis because the relationship between these traffic parameters can vary across the study sites. The purpose of this study is to find a method for measuring traffic density from aerial photography that is easy and accurate, and for this purpose, we investigated whether the measuring length (i.e., the length of a section of roadway from which observations of traffic are simultaneously collected) can be shorter than 1 km and yet retain the same measured traffic density. We divided an aerial photograph into several 20‐m unit sections, counted the number of vehicles manually, and examined measured traffic density according to central limit theory. According to the results of this study, with the number of 20‐m unit sections for observing traffic density at 15 (the measuring length is 300 m), the measured traffic density was almost the same as the density of a representative section of 1 km. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Design practice for the stern hull form of a twin-skeg ship

Hydrodynamic standards have been derived for the improvement of propulsive performance of twin-skeg hull forms. Three important physical observations were used in the optimization of design practice for the stern hull form of twin-skeg ships: limiting streamline pattern on the inner and outer skeg surface of a stern skeg, the balance between the flow intensity over the inner and outer skeg surface of a stern skeg and nominal wake distribution in the propeller plane. Numerical calculations and model tests have been compared to validate a CFD code used in the current work. Based on the stern flow analysis for the evaluation of self-propulsion performance, effects of stern skeg arrangement on the propulsion efficiency, i.e. the distance between skegs and the angle of the skeg with respect to shaft centerline, were intensively investigated. An optimized hull form design for a twin-skeg ship was developed using the design practice derived in this work.     

Three-dimensional numerical wave tank simulations on fully nonlinear wave–current–body interactions

A finite-difference scheme and a marker-and-cell (MAC) method are used for numerical wave tank (NWT) simulations to investigate the characteristics of nonlinear wave motions and their interactions with a stationary three-dimensional body in the presence of steady uniform currents. The Navier–Stokes (NS) equation is solved in the computational domain, and the boundary values are updated at each time-step by a finite-difference time-marching scheme in the frame of a rectangular coordinate system. The fully nonlinear kinematic free-surface condition is satisfied by the marker–density function technique developed for two fluid layers. The incident waves are generated from the inflow boundary by prescribing a velocity profile resembling the motions of a flexible flap wavemaker, and the outgoing waves are numerically dissipated inside an artificial damping zone located at the end of the tank. Using the NS–MAC NWT, nonlinear wave and current interactions around a stationary vertical truncated circular cylinder are studied, and the results are compared with the experimental results of Mercier and Niedzwecki, a time-domain NWT based on linear potential theory, a fully nonlinear NWT, and a second-order diffraction computation. Received: July 3, 2001 / Accepted: September 25, 2001     

Lateral controller design for an unmanned vehicle via Kalman filtering

This paper proposes a lateral control system for an unmanned vehicle that is designed to improve the responsiveness of the system with the use of a PD control. The vehicle heading error can be stabilized, and the transient response characteristics can be improved using the proposed controller. A mathematical model of the vehicle dynamics using two degrees of freedom was developed for the controller design. The waypoint tracking method for autonomous navigation was tested with incorporation of the Point-to-Point algorithm with position and heading measurements received from GPS receivers via Kalman filtering. The performance of the designed controller was verified through experiments with a real vehicle.     

Design optimization of an injection mold for minimizing temperature deviation

The quality of an injection molded part is largely affected by the mold cooling. Consequently, this makes it necessary to optimize the mold cooling circuit when designing the part but prior to designing the mold. Various approaches of optimizing the mold cooling circuit have been proposed previously. In this work, optimization of the mold cooling circuit was automated by a commercial process integration and design optimization tool called Process Integration, Automation and Optimization (PIAnO), which is often used for large automotive parts such as bumpers and instrument panels. The cooling channels and baffle tubes were located on the offset profile equidistant from the part surface. The locations of the cooling channels and the baffle tubes were automatically generated and input into the mold cooling computer-aided engineering program, Autodesk Moldflow Insight 2010. The objective function was the deviation of the mold surface temperature from a given design temperature. Design variables in the optimization were the depths, distances and diameters of the cooling channels and the baffle tubes. For a more practical analysis, the pressure drop and temperature drop were considered the limited values. Optimization was performed using the progressive quadratic response surface method. The optimization resulted in a more uniform temperature distribution when compared to the initial design, and utilizing the proposed optimization method, a satisfactory solution could be made at a lower cost.     

Exhaust nanoparticle emissions from internal combustion engines: A review

This paper reviews the particle emissions formed during the combustion process in spark ignition and diesel engine. Proposed legislation in Europe and California will impose a particle number requirement for GDI (gasoline direct injection) vehicles and will introduce the Euro 6 and LEV-III emission standards. More careful optimization for reducing particulate emission on engine hardware, fuel system, and control strategy to reduce particulate emissions will be required during cold start and warm-up phases. Because The diesel combustion inherently produces significant amounts of PM as a result of incomplete combustion around individual fuel droplets in the combustion zone, much attention has been paid to reducing particle emissions through electronic engine control, high pressure injection systems, combustion chamber design, and exhaust after-treatment technologies. In this paper, recent research and development trends to reduce the particle emissions from internal combustion engines are summarized, with a focus on PMP activity in EU, CARB and SAE papers and including both state-of-the-art light-duty vehicles and heavy-duty engines.     

高丽伊斯兰教徒剌马丹

位于东亚的韩国与西亚的伊斯兰国家的交往由来已久,古代已有韩国人踏访伊斯兰国家.本文所要介绍的,正是古代韩国人和伊斯兰国家接触的物证之一——剌马丹墓碑.高丽人剌马丹在元朝为官,死后被葬在广东的伊斯兰教徒墓园.他是现存资料中以伊斯兰教礼入葬的高丽第一人.剌马丹墓碑是最近广州都市扩大规划工程中被偶然发现的.笔者通过广州博物馆副馆长李穗梅得知此事后,亲访广州,经由广州博物馆和广州伊斯兰教协会始得观剌马丹元朝墓碑及求得相关资料.本论文将围绕剌马丹墓碑,着重介绍墓碑及其收藏现状、具体事项以及笔者的寻访过程及墓碑发掘的意义等内容.为了便于读者理解,还将顺带介绍与剌马丹墓碑有关的广州伊斯兰教遗址.     

Wheel Slip Control in Traction Control System for Vehicle Stability

Traction control systems are used to prevent wheel slippage and to maximize traction forces. This paper proposes a new scheme to enhance vehicle lateral stability with a traction control system during cornering and lane changes. This scheme controls wheel slip during cornering by varying the slip ratio as a function of the slip angle. It assumes that a traction control system with the engine throttle angle is used. The scheme is dynamically simulated with a model of front-wheel-driven passenger vehicles. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme is robust and superior to a conventional one, which is based upon fixed slip ratios, during cornering and lane changes.     

Transformation and Expression of Choline Monooxygenase(CMO) Gene in Embryogenic Tissue of White Pine(Pinus strobus)

Many plants can accumulate glycine betaine(GlyBet, N, N, N-trimethylglycine), an non-toxic or osmo-protectant in response to salinity anddrought stress. Numerous experiments in vitrohave indicated that betaine acts as an osmoprotec-tant by stabilizing both the quaternary structure ofproteins and the highly ordered structure of mem-branes against the adverse effects of high salinityand extreme temperatures. Exogenous applicationof betaine to leaves or roots has been shown to in-crease the tol…     

Vehicle Dynamic Control for In-Wheel Electric Vehicles Via Temperature Consideration of Braking Systems

?Vehicle dynamic control (VDC) systems play an important role with regard to vehicle stability and safety when turning. VDC systems prevent vehicles from spinning or slipping when cornering sharply by controlling vehicle yaw moment, which is generated by braking forces. Thus, it is important to control braking forces depending on the driving conditions of the vehicle. The required yaw moment to stabilize a vehicle is calculated through optimal control and a combination of braking forces used to generate the calculated yaw moment. However, braking forces can change due to frictional coefficients being affected by variations in temperature. This can cause vehicles to experience stability problems due an improper yaw moment being applied to the vehicle. In this paper, a brake temperature estimator based on the finite different method (FDM) was proposed with a friction coefficient estimator in order to solve this problem. The developed braking characteristic estimation model was used to develop a VDC cooperative control algorithm using hydraulic braking and the regenerative braking of an in-wheel motor. Performance simulations of the developed cooperative control algorithm were performed through cosimulation with MATLAB/Simulink and CarSim. From the simulation results, it was verified that vehicle stability was ensured despite any changes in the braking characteristics due to brake temperatures.