Effects of intersection field of view on emergent collision avoidance performance at unsignalized intersections: analysis based on driving simulator experiments

Proper intersection sight distance can effectively lower the possibility of intersection accidents. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (2011) provide a series of recommended dimensions of intersection sight triangles for uncontrolled and stop/yield‐controlled intersections. However, in reality, although the actual intersection design for unsignalized intersections satisfies the requirements of sight distance and clear sight triangle in American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' guideline, there are still a large number of crashes occurring at unsignalized intersections for drivers running stop/yield signs or failing to slow down. This paper presents a driving simulator study on pre‐crash at intersections under three intersection field of view (IFOV) conditions. The aim was to explore whether better IFOVs at unsignalized intersections improve their emergent collision avoidance performance under an assumption of valid intersection sight distance design. The experimental results show drivers' ability to identify potential hazards to be significantly affected by their IFOVs. As drivers' IFOV improved, drivers were more likely to choose braking actions to avoid collisions. Better IFOVs were also associated with significant increases in brake time to intersection and significant reductions in deceleration rate and crash rate, thus leading to a lower risk of traffic crash involvement. The results indicate that providing a better IFOV for drivers at intersections should be encouraged in practical applications in order to improve drivers' crash avoidance capabilities. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bayesian updating of trip generation data: Combining national trip generation rates with local data

With traffic impact analyses and impact fee assessment becoming more popular, the need for accurately estimating the trip generation rate of a proposed development is becoming more important. An overwhelming percentage of state transportation agencies depend either partly or entirely on the ITETrip Generation Report to predict the traffic that will be attracted to and/or produced from a proposed development. However, the rates obtained from the ITE publication have been derived from data collected throughout the United States. They represent a national average and fail to take into account the local trip generation characteristics that the site under consideration might have. This paper establishes a methodology for obtaining more reliable local trip generation rates using Bayesian statistics. In this method, the ITE rates are assumed to be the prior information, which are updated using limited local trip generation data that are available. The method also allows for temporal updating, incorporating subjective judgment and using borrowed data in the updating procedure. Sample calculations in this paper illustrate the developed methodology.     

Investigation of soot formation in Diesel-GTL fuel blends under quiescent conditions

In this study, a visual investigation of sprays and flames is performed, and soot formation in Diesel-GTL fuel blends is studied in a specially designed quiescent constant-volume chamber under various ambient gas temperatures and O₂ concentrations. Similar to the case of soot formation during diesel fuel combustion, the sooting zone during the mixing-controlled combustion of Diesel-GTL blends is located in the leading portion of the jet boundaries. Auto-ignition delay and soot concentration decrease with an increase of GTL content in the fuel blend. Soot also decreases with lower O₂ concentration, higher injection pressure, and lower ambient gas temperature. The lack of soot formation at lower O₂ concentrations and lower temperatures suggests that Diesel-GTL fuel blends can be successfully utilized in low-temperature diesel combustion technologies that are currently being developed. Furthermore, this mixing controlled combustion method with Diesel-GTL blends can be used to modulate various engine operation parameters, and therefore to simultaneously reduce the formation of soot and NOx within a wide range of diesel engine loads.     

Optimal design of an engine mount using an enhanced genetic algorithm with simplex method

This study provides an analysis of the applications of optimization routines for designing fluid mounts. After summarizing the concept of fluid mounts and their dynamic characteristics, we review the importance of the notch and resonance peak that occur in dynamic stiffness of fluid mounts. Fluid mounts are tuned for specific application so that their notch frequency coincides with the disturbance frequency, by selecting the proper parameters for the mount. Additionally, the mount parameters are selected such that the notch remains as deep (close to zero) as possible and the resonance peak is kept as short as possible. The notch depth and resonance peak present opposing requirements for the selection of mount parameters in the sense that lowering one will result in increasing the other. Using a bond graph model, this study will evaluate the effect of various parameters on the mount notch depth and resonance peak height characteristics. The results show that different parameters can have a varying effect on the notch frequency and depth, as well as the resonance frequency and peak height. The results of the study are extended by examining the effectiveness of two different optimization methods—namely, the Enhanced Genetic Algorithm (EGA) and Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP)—for selecting the combination of parameters that can yield the deepest notch and shortest resonance peak. Using two different design cases, the study shows that SQP exhibits much more sensitivity to the initial conditions that are selected for the mount parameters than EGA. Both methods, however, are able to converge to an optimal solution within the constraints that are selected for the parameters. For both cases, EGA is able to converge to the set of parameters that provide a deep notch and a short resonance peak.     

Development of control logic for hydraulic active roll control system

Developed in this research is a control logic for the ARC (Active Roll Control) system that uses rotary-type hydraulic stabilizer actuators at the front and rear axles. The hydraulic components of the system were modeled in detail using AMESim, and a driving logic for the hydraulic circuit was constructed based upon the model. The performance of the driving logic was evaluated on a test bench, and it demonstrated good pressure tracking capability. The control logic was then designed with the target of reducing the roll motion of the vehicle during cornering. The control logic consists of two parts: a feedforward controller that generates anti-roll moments in response to the centrifugal force, and a feedback controller that generates anti-roll moments in order to make the roll angle to follow its target value. The developed ARC logic was evaluated on a test vehicle under various driving conditions including a slowly accelerated circular motion and a sinusoidal steering. Through the test, the ARC system demonstrated successful reduction of the roll motion under all conditions, and any discomfort due to the control delay was not observed even at a fast steering maneuver.     

Experimental study on the characteristics of nano-particle emissions from a heavy-duty diesel engine using a urea-SCR system

Particulate matter in diesel engine exhaust, particularly nano-particles, can cause serious human health problems including diseases such as lung cancer. Because diesel nano-particle issues are of global concern, regulations on particulate matter emissions specify that not only the weight of particulate matter emitted but also the concentration of nanoparticles must be controlled. This study aimed to determine the effects on nano-particle and PM emissions from a diesel engine when applying a urea-SCR system for NO_x reduction. We found that PM weight increases by approximately 90% when urea is injected in ND-13 mode over the emission without urea injection. Additionally, PM weight increases as the NH₃/NO_x mole ratio is increased at 250 °C. In SEM scans of the collected PM, spherical particles were observed during urea injection, with sizes of approximately 200 nm to 1 μm. This study was designed to determine the conditions under which nano-particles and PM are formed in a urea-SCR system and to relate these conditions to particle size and shape via a quantitative analysis in ND-13 mode.     

Application of a thermodynamic model with a complex chemistry to a cycle resolved knock prediction on a spark ignition optical engine

A combination of experimental and numerical methodologies is proposed for the investigation of knocking in spark ignition engines to aid in better understanding the physical and chemical processes that occur and to exploit the capabilities of a developed computational tool. The latter consists of a thermo-fluid dynamics model, which is part of an advanced 1-D fluid dynamics code for the simulation of the entire engine, and a complex chemistry model, which can be embedded into the thermo-fluid dynamics model using the same integration algorithm for the conservation equations and the reacting species. Their mutual interaction in the energy balance will be considered. The experimental activity was carried out in the combustion chamber of an optically accessible, single-cylinder P.F.I. engine equipped with a commercial head. The experimental data consisted of optical measurements correlated to the combustion and auto-ignition processes within the cylinder. The optical measurements were based on 2-D digital imaging, UV visible natural emission spectroscopy and the chemiluminescence of radical species (OH and HCO). The engine parameters, the pressure signals of the related data and optical acquisition are compared on an individual cycle basis in the simulation by running the engine at a constant speed and varying the spark advance from normal combustion to heavy knock conditions.     

Relationship between lean six sigma, environmental management systems, and organizational performance in the Malaysian automotive industry

In the globalization era, lean initiatives and environmental management systems are increasingly implemented in the automotive industry. The aim of this report is to investigate and perform structural analysis of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and Organizational Performance (OP). Data were obtained from 252 top management leaders in the Malaysian automotive industry. This report presents the results of the Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and reliability analysis, which are empirically verified and validated. A set of assessment measurements of LSS and OP is expected to be suitable for their characteristics and improve their competitiveness. Thus, the main objective of the analysis was to provide additional insight into the relationship between LSS and OP by examining the effects of ISO 14001 certification as a moderator. The results indicate that ISO 14001 certification does not significantly moderate the relationship between LSS and OP in the Malaysian automotive industry. However, the OP values for ISO 14001 certified companies are higher than those without ISO 14001 certification.     

Technology analysis and low-cost design of automotive radar for adaptive cruise control system

Recently, the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), which helps mitigate car accidents, has been developed using environmental detection sensors, such as long and short range radar, lidar, wide dynamic range cameras, ultrasonic sensors and laser scanners. Among these detection sensors, radars can quickly provide drivers with reliable information about the velocity, distance and direction of a target obstacle, as well as information about the vehicle in changing weather conditions. In the adaptive cruise control system (ACCS), three radar sensors are usually needed because two short range radars are used to detect objects in the adjacent lane and one long range radar is used to detect objects in-path. In this paper, low-cost radar based on a single sensor, which can detect objects in both the adjacent lane and in-path, is proposed for use in the ACCS. Before designing the proposed radar, we analyzed the world-wide radar technology and market trends for ACCS. Based on this analysis, we designed a novel radar sensor for the ACCS using radar components, such as an antenna, transceiver module, transceiver control module and signal processing algorithm. Finally, target detection experiments were conducted. In the experimental results, the proposed single radar can successfully complete the detection required for the ACCS. In the conclusion, the perspective and issues in the future development of the ACCS radar are described.     

Grande vitesse ferroviaire et développement économique local : une revue de la littérature

Many high-speed rail (HSR) projects exist in Europe and elsewhere in the world and generate many expectations: economic development, location of new firms and new population, development of tourism, effect on real estate. But these expectations are not always fulfilled. For academic researchers, the myth of the existence of a linear causality between transport infrastructures and spatial, social and economic transformations, according to which automatic effects will occur, has been challenged for a long time. But sometimes, new economic dynamism can be observed. The aim of this paper is to present a review of academic and non-academic literature in order to understand why there is a gap between the academic literature and the regional stakeholders’ expectations.