Hybridation of generation propagation models and SPH model to study severe sea states in Galician Coast

The Atlantic and Cantabrian coasts of the Iberian Peninsula suffer the periodic passage of storms which give rise to severe sea states. Standard generation- propagation models (WAM, WAVEWATCH, SWAN) are commonly used for operational oceanography purposes with satisfactory results both in the open ocean and in near shore areas but they do not provide information about the possibility of flooding in coastal areas. A 2D HV version of SPH (Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics) model is considered to propagate the signal provided by generation- propagation models to the coast and to analyze the nature of coastal structures overtopping as a tool to create maps of risk. SPH is shown to provide valuable information about overtopping (maximum water height and water velocity) under the stormy conditions suffered by the Galician coast on February 17, 2006.     

闽南早期历史研究的现代新趋势——《刺桐梦华录》书评

苏基朗的<刺桐梦华录>一书,通过三个交织在一起的主题:繁荣、区域和制度,来分析闽南泉州的经济演变,是史学界研究方法的一种突破.该书探讨了不少在前辈的研究中难以深入的问题,但终因缺少确凿的实证基础而只能采用逻辑推理的方法.这种研究方法使其得出的结论缺少客观性,但却为闽南史学研究提出了新的思考.     

Low temperature premixed combustion within a small bore high speed direct injection (HSDI) optically accessible diesel engine using a retarded single injection

An optically accessible single-cylinder high speed direct-injection (HSDI) Diesel engine equipped with a Bosch common rail injection system was used to study low temperature Modulated Kinetics (MK) combustion with a retarded single main injection. High-speed liquid fuel Mie-scattering was employed to investigate the liquid distribution and evolution. By carefully setting up the optics, three-dimensional images of fuel spray were obtained from both the bottom of the piston and the side window. The NOx emissions were measured in the exhaust pipe. The influence of injection pressure and injection timing on liquid fuel evolution and combustion characteristics was studied under similar fuel quantities. Interesting spray development was seen from the side window images. Liquid impingement was found for all of the cases due to the small diameter of the piston bowl. The liquid fuel tip hits the bowl wall obliquely and spreads as a wall jet in the radial direction of the spray. Due to the bowl geometry, the fuel film moves back into the central part of the bowl, which enhances the air-fuel mixing process and prepares a more homogeneous air-fuel mixture. Stronger impingement was seen for high injection pressures. Injection timing had little effect on fuel impingement. No liquid fuel was seen before ignition, indicating premixed combustion for all the cases. High-speed combustion video was taken using the same frame rate. Ignition was seen to occur on or near the bowl wall in the vicinity of the spray tip, with the ignition delay being noticeably longer for lower injection pressure and later injection timing. The majority of the flame was confined to the bowl region throughout the combustion event. A more homogeneous and weaker flame was observed for higher injection pressures and later injection timing. The combustion structure also proves the mixing enhancement effect of the liquid fuel impingement. The results show that ultra-low sooting combustion is feasible in an HSDI diesel engine with a higher injection pressure, a higher EGR rate, or later injection timing, with little penalty on power output. It was also found that injection timing has more influence on HCCI-like combustion using a single main injection than the other two factors studied. Compared with the base cases, simultaneous reductions of soot and NOx were obtained by increasing EGR rate and retarding injection timing. By increasing injection pressure, NOx emissions were increased due to leaner and faster combustion with better air-fuel mixing. However, smoke emissions were significantly reduced with increased injection pressure.     

Improving Tidal Turbine Performance Through Multi-Rotor Fence Configurations

Constructive interference between tidal stream turbines in multi-rotor fence configurations arrayed normally to the flow has been shown analytically, computationally, and experimentally to enhance turbine performance. The increased resistance to bypass flow due to the presence of neighbouring turbines allows a static pressure difference to develop in the channel and entrains a greater flow rate through the rotor swept area. Exploiting the potential improvement in turbine performance requires that turbines either be operated at higher tip speed ratios or that turbines are redesigned in order to increase thrust. Recent studies have demonstrated that multi-scale flow dynamics, in which a distinction is made between device-scale and fence-scale flow events, have an important role in the physics of flow past tidal turbine fences partially spanning larger channels. Although the reduction in flow rate through the fence as the turbine thrust level increases has been previously demonstrated, the within-fence variation in turbine performance, and the consequences for overall farm performance, is less well understood. The impact of turbine design and operating conditions, on the performance of a multi-rotor tidal fence is investigated using Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes embedded blade element actuator disk simulations. Fences consisting of four, six, and eight turbines are simulated, and it is demonstrated that the combination of device- and fence-scale flow effects gives rise to cross-fence thrust and power variation. These cross-fence variations are also a function of turbine thrust, and hence design conditions, although it is shown simple turbine control strategies can be adopted in order to reduce the cross-fence variations and improve overall fence performance. As the number of turbines in the fence, and hence fence length, increases, it is shown that the turbines may be designed or operated to achieve higher thrust levels than if the turbines were not deployed in a fence configuration.

     

The changing accuracy of traffic forecasts

Researchers have improved travel demand forecasting methods in recent decades but invested relatively little to understand their accuracy. A major barrier has been the lack of necessary data. We compiled the largest known database of traffic forecast accuracy, composed of forecast traffic, post-opening counts and project attributes for 1291 road projects in the United States and Europe. We compared measured versus forecast traffic and identified the factors associated with accuracy. We found measured traffic is on average 6% lower than forecast volumes, with a mean absolute deviation of 17% from the forecast. Higher volume roads, higher functional classes, shorter time spans, and the use of travel models all improved accuracy. Unemployment rates also affected accuracy—traffic would be 1% greater than forecast on average, rather than 6% lower, if we adjust for higher unemployment during the post-recession years (2008 to 2014). Forecast accuracy was not consistent over time: more recent forecasts were more accurate, and the mean deviation changed direction. Traffic on projects that opened from the 1980s through early 2000s was higher on average than forecast, while traffic on more recent projects was lower on average than forecast. This research provides insight into the degree of confidence that planners and policy makers can expect from traffic forecasts and suggests that we should view forecasts as a range of possible outcomes rather than a single expected outcome.

     

Genetic algorithm-based simulation optimization of the ALINEA ramp metering system: a case study in Atlanta

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a case study of the optimal ALINEA ramp metering system model of a corridor of the metro Atlanta freeway. Based on real-world traffic data, this study estimates the origin-destination matrix for the corridor. Using a stochastic simulation-based optimization framework that combines a micro-simulation model and a genetic algorithm-based optimization module, we determine the optimal parameter values of a combined ALINEA ramp metering system with a queue flush system that minimizes total vehicle travel time. We found that the performance of ramp metering with optimized parameters, which is very sensitive possibly because bottlenecks are correlated, outperforms the no control model with its optimized parameters in terms of reducing total travel time.     

The estimation of a time-dependent OD trip table with vehicle trajectory samples

Abstract

In this paper we discuss a dynamic origin–destination (OD) estimation problem that has been used for identifying time-dependent travel demand on a road network. Even though a dynamic OD table is an indispensable data input for executing a dynamic traffic assignment, it is difficult to construct using the conventional OD construction method such as the four-step model. For this reason, a direct estimation method based on field traffic data such as link traffic counts has been used. However, the method does not account for a logical relationship between a travel demand pattern and socioeconomic attributes. In addition, the OD estimation method cannot guarantee the reliability of estimated results since the OD estimation problem has a property named the ‘underdetermined problem.’ In order to overcome such a problem, the method developed in this paper makes use of vehicle trajectory samples with link traffic counts. The new method is applied to numerical examples and shows promising capability for identifying a temporal and spatial travel demand pattern.     

Impact assessment of the Internet of Things on feeder transit performance

ABSTRACT

Efficient planning for demand responsive transit (DRT) can contribute to fulfilling the first/last mile transport needs for users of a major transit line. With the advancement in communication technologies, the internet is expected to assist this growing need of providing first/last mile connectivity. This is proposed to be achieved through a network created by Internet of Things (IoT). This paper evaluates the effect of implementation of IoT on service quality (or disutility) of DRT for two scenarios – with enabled-IoT (e-IoT) and with disabled-IoT (d-IoT). Data from five different DRT-like systems known as Call-n-Ride (CnR) routes operating in Denver, Colorado, are used for evaluation purposes. These CnR routes are Meridian, Interlocken, South Inverness, Broomfield and Louisville. Results show that, in general, all CnR routes would experience more than a 58 percent decrease in disutility if their operations were based on ‘with e-IoT’ operations. Interlocken would record the largest percentage decrease (74 percent) in disutility if its route service switched from the ‘with d-IoT’ to the ‘with e-IoT’ scenario.     

Mesh generation and hysteretic loss prediction of 3-D periodic patterned tire

This paper is concerned with the numerical prediction of the hysteretic loss-induced rolling resistance of 3-D periodic patterned tire. Elastomeric rubber compounds of rolling tire exhibit the hysteretic loss owing to the phase difference between stress- and strain-time responses. By virtue of this physical characteristic, the rolling resistance is considered as a pseudo-force resisting the tire rolling. The 3-D periodic patterned tire model is constructed by copying an 1-sector mesh in the circumferential direction, and strain cycles of each strain component are approximated by 3-D static tire contact analysis. According to the principal value of half strain amplitudes, the hysteretic loss is calculated in terms of the amplitude of the maximum principal strain and the loss modulus of rubber compound. The numerical results of 3-D periodic patterned tire are justified with the experimental data and compared with those of 3-D smooth tire.     

Dynamic user equilibrium with side constraints for a traffic network: Theoretical development and numerical solution algorithm

This paper investigates a traffic volume control scheme for a dynamic traffic network model which aims to ensure that traffic volumes on specified links do not exceed preferred levels. The problem is formulated as a dynamic user equilibrium problem with side constraints (DUE-SC) in which the side constraints represent the restrictions on the traffic volumes. Travelers choose their departure times and routes to minimize their generalized travel costs, which include early/late arrival penalties. An infinite-dimensional variational inequality (VI) is formulated to model the DUE-SC. Based on this VI formulation, we establish an existence result for the DUE-SC by showing that the VI admits at least one solution. To analyze the necessary condition for the DUE-SC, we restate the VI as an equivalent optimal control problem. The Lagrange multipliers associated with the side constraints as derived from the optimality condition of the DUE-SC provide the traffic volume control scheme. The control scheme can be interpreted as additional travel delays (either tolls or access delays) imposed upon drivers for using the controlled links. This additional delay term derived from the Lagrange multiplier is compared with its counterpart in a static user equilibrium assignment model. If the side constraint is chosen as the storage capacity of a link, the additional delay can be viewed as the effort needed to prevent the link from spillback. Under this circumstance, it is found that the flow is incompressible when the link traffic volume is equal to its storage capacity. An algorithm based on Euler’s discretization scheme and nonlinear programming is proposed to solve the DUE-SC. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the mechanism of the proposed traffic volume control scheme.