Storage space allocation in container terminals

Container terminals are essential intermodal interfaces in the global transportation network. Efficient container handling at terminals is important in reducing transportation costs and keeping shipping schedules. In this paper, we study the storage space allocation problem in the storage yards of terminals. This problem is related to all the resources in terminal operations, including quay cranes, yard cranes, storage space, and internal trucks. We solve the problem using a rolling-horizon approach. For each planning horizon, the problem is decomposed into two levels and each level is formulated as a mathematical programming model. At the first level, the total number of containers to be placed in each storage block in each time period of the planning horizon is set to balance two types of workloads among blocks. The second level determines the number of containers associated with each vessel that constitutes the total number of containers in each block in each period, in order to minimize the total distance to transport the containers between their storage blocks and the vessel berthing locations. Numerical runs show that with short computation time the method significantly reduces the workload imbalance in the yard, avoiding possible bottlenecks in terminal operations.     

Active Roll Control of Single Unit Heavy Road Vehicles

Summary Strategies are investigated for controlling active anti-roll systems in single unit heavy road vehicles, so as to maximise roll stability. The achievable roll stability improvements that can be obtained by applying active anti-roll torques to truck suspensions are discussed. Active roll control strategies are developed, based on linear quadratic controllers. It is shown that an effective controller can be designed using the LQG approach, combined with the loop transfer recovery method to ensure adequate stability margins. A roll controller is designed for a torsionally flexible single unit vehicle, and the vehicle response to steady-state and transient cornering manoeuvres is simulated. It is concluded that roll stability can be improved by between 26% and 46% depending on the manoeuvre. Handling stability is also improved significantly.     

Process Save Reduction by Macro Joint Approach: The Key to Real Time and Efficient Vehicle Simulation

Applying a non-linear model reduction method to the tire suspension system of road vehicles enables an automatic transfer of complex offline simulation vehicle models to a mathematical model, which fits the real time simulation requirements. The basic assumption, that high frequent inner suspension dynamics are not relevant to handling manoeuvres, converts the differential algebraic equation system (DAE) of suspensions with kinematical closed loops into pure elasto-kinematical linkage equations. The equations of motions can be represented as an ordinary differential equation system (ODE) and considerable simulation time reductions are obtained for the off-line simulation and real time simulation is enabled. This so-called macro joint approach is an alternative modelling method to the well-known look-up table representation of suspension kinematics but it keeps the parameterisation of the original suspension model and is suitable to parameterised real time MBS models. With a second step the dynamics, caused by compliance in the suspension bushings, are reduced to their quasi-static behaviour. The consideration of these quasi-elasticity has nearly no influence on the necessary simulation time. This contribution shows the theoretical background and demonstrates the advantage of the macro joint model reduction approach on a typical vehicle example.     

平地机安装自动找平系统的使用与校对

平地机被广泛应用于各种路面工程的平整及其它工程的改良施工中,介绍了平地机自动找平系统的组成、作用、控制,着重对系统的三大作用、校对时间作了说明.     

An Exploration of the Relationship between Timing and Duration of Maintenance Activities

The timing and duration of an activity episode are two important temporal aspects of activity-travel behavior. Understanding the causal relationship between these two variables would be useful in the development of activity-based travel demand modeling systems. This paper investigates the relationship between these two variables by considering two different causal structures – one structure in which time-of-day choice is determined first and influences duration and a second structure in which activity duration is determined first and affects time-of-day choice. These two structures are estimated within a discrete-continuous simultaneous equations framework employing a full-information maximum likelihood methodology that allows error covariance. The estimation is performed separately for commuter and non-commuter samples drawn from a 1996 household travel survey data set from the Tampa Bay area in Florida. The results of the model estimation effort show that the causal structure in which activity duration precedes or affects activity timing (time of day choice) performs better for the non-commuter sample. For the commuter sample, the findings were less conclusive with both causal structures offering equally good statistical measures of fit. In addition, for the commuter sample, all error correlations were found to be zero. These two findings suggest that time of day choice and activity episode duration are only loosely related for the commuter sample, possibly due to the relatively non-discretionary and inflexible work activity and travel.     

Correlation between automotive CO, HC, NO, and PM emission factors from on-road remote sensing: implications for inspection and maintenance programs

Carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC), and nitrogen oxide (NO) emission factors (EFs) are measured with a commercial vehicle emissions remote sensing system (VERSS) during a large-scale vehicle exhaust emissions study in Las Vegas. Particulate matter (PM) EFs are simultaneously measured for individual vehicles with a newly developed PM-VERSS based on ultraviolet backscatter light detection and ranging (Lidar). The effectiveness of CO and HC EFs as proxy for NO and PM EFs for spark-ignition vehicles is evaluated. Poor correlations were found between EFs for pollutants on an individual vehicle basis indicating that high EFs for one or more pollutants cannot be used as a predictor of high EFs for other pollutants. Stronger functional relationships became evident after averaging the EF data in bins based on rank-order of a single pollutant EF. Low overlap between the highest 10% emitters for CO, HC, NO, and PM was found. These results imply that for an effective reduction of the four pollutants, inspection and maintenance (I/M) programs, including clean screening, should measure all four pollutants individually. Fleet average CO and HC concentrations determined by gaseous VERSS were compared with fleet average CO and HC concentrations measured at low-idle and at high-idle during local I/M tests for spark-ignition vehicles. The fleet average CO concentrations measured by I/M tests at either idle were about half of those measured by remote sensing. The fleet average high-idle HC concentration measured by I/M tests was about half of that measured by VERSS while low-idle I/M and VERSS HC average concentrations were in better agreement. For a typical vehicle trip, most of the fuel is burned during non-idle conditions. I/M measurements collected during idling conditions may not be a good indicator of a vehicle’s potential to be a high emitter. VERSS measurements, when the vehicle is under a load, should more effectively identify high emitting vehicles that have a large contribution to the mobile emissions inventory.     

Hub location with flow economies of scale

A characteristic feature of hub and spoke networks is the bundling of flows on the interhub links. This agglomeration of flows leads to reduced travel costs across the interhub links. Current models of hub location do not adequately model the scale economies of flow that accrue due to the agglomeration of flows. This paper shows that current hub location models, by assuming flow-independent costs, not only miscalculate total network cost, but may also erroneously select optimal hub locations and allocations. The model presented in this paper more explicitly models the scale economies that are generated on the interhub links and in doing so provides a more reliable model representation of the reality of hub and spoke networks.     

声强测量技术在摩托车噪声控制中的应用

本文介绍了声强测量技术在某１２５摩托车噪声控制中的应用，利用开发的ＣＥＣ声强测量分析系统对该摩托车进行噪声识别，快速，准确地找到其主要噪声源，通过有针对性地采取降噪措施，使该车行驶噪声显著降低。