Performance analysis according to the combination of energy storage system for fuel cell hybrid vehicle

The need for the unmanned ground combat vehicle (UGCV), which is used for the surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting during extremely dangerous condition on the battlefield, has steadily increased, and the transition from manned ground combat vehicles to unmanned ground combat vehicles is expected to reduce the loss of lives during battle. The UGCV needs many types of capabilities to achieve satisfactory performance. This paper focuses on the modeling and control of the power system of the UGCV, and proposes the fuel cell hybrid system (FCHS) for the power system of the UGCV. The fuel cell hybrid system has many advantages in stealth drive and the system efficiency. In addition, the FCHS is much quieter than the engine generator and generates much less heat. The benefits of the FCHS are advantageous for use in Army operations, which require ‘silent watch’ capability and the ability to operate without showing up on an enemy’s radar screen. The FCHS has a fuel cell and uses an energy storage system (ESS) as a power source. The ESS (e.g., batteries or ultracapacitors) helps the fuel cell supply power to the electric drive system and also recovers energy during deceleration. The ESS makes it possible to improve the efficiency and dynamic characteristic of the power system. In this paper, the FCHS is composed of different combinations of component models. The component sizes are chosen to satisfy performance requirements. In order to determine the power distribution between the fuel cell and the ESS, a power management strategy based on the required power and the SOC (state of charge) of the ESS is proposed. Batteries and ultracapacitor, components of the ESS, have different characteristics. Accordingly, varying the combination of ESS components can change the performance of the power system. The performance of the FCHS with respect to different combinations of ESS is analyzed using simulated results.     

Emission analysis of a compressed natural gas directinjection engine with a homogenous mixture

In an era in which environmental pollution and depletion of world oil reserves are of major concern, emissions produced by automotive vehicles need to be controlled and reduced. An ideal solution is to switch to a cleaner fuel such as natural gas, which generates cleaner emissions. In addition, control over the in-cylinder air-fuel mixture can be best achieved through a direct-injection mechanism, which can further improve combustion efficiency. This need for cleaner automobiles provides the motivation for this paper’s examination of the use of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations to analyze the concentrations of the exhaust gases produced by a compressed natural gas engine with a direct-fuel-injection system. In this work, a compressed natural gas direct-injection engine has been designed and developed through a numerical simulation using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to provide an insight into complex in-cylinder behavior. The emissions analyzed in this study were carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO) and carbon dioxide (CO₂), i.e. the main pollutants produced by natural gas combustion. Based on a stoichiometric mixture, the concentrations of CO and NO were computed using the dissociation of carbon dioxide and the extended Zeldovich mechanism. CO₂ was calculated using a mass balance of the species involved in the combustion process. The simulation results were then compared with the experimental data generated by a single-cylinder research engine test rig. A good agreement was obtained with the experimental data for the engine speeds considered for all emissions concentrations.     

Thermo-oxidative degradation of a carbon black compounded EPDM rubber hose

A method to measure the crosslink density of carbon black was used to analyze the aging behavior of a radiator hose made of carbon black filled EPDM (ethylene-propylene diene monomer) rubber under thermo-oxidative stresses. The crosslink density and the strength of the skin of the rubber specimens initially decreased slightly but then increased over time. The elongation at the break considerably reduced and did not show any similarity to the behaviors of the crosslink density. A possible cause of this reaction might be from the formation of rigid sulphoxide crosslinks and the crosslinks produced by the reaction of unvalcunized sulfurs. Aging the rubber specimens at 180°C caused a slight increase in the crosslink density and a large decrease in tensile strength and elongation. The aging experiment also caused a rapid increase of microhardness in the surface skin region. The formation of carbonyl groups in EPDM molecule chains and the formation of rigid sulphoxide crosslink, rather than the crosslink density variation, may have had a large influence. The changing behaviours of the mechanical properties, molecule chains and crosslinks showed significantly different characteristics in the skin and the interior with aging temperature and time.     

Relationship between occupant injury and the perturbation mark on the velocity indicator on a cluster panel

A perturbation mark is occasionally produced on the velocity indicator of the cluster panel of a vehicle during a vehicle collision. This mark can be used to estimate the velocity of the vehicle at the moment of the vehicle’s impact. In this study, the effect of the impact velocity and the deceleration of the vehicle on the perturbation mark were investigated, and an analysis of the driver’s injury was also conducted through a numerical pulse representation and computer simulations. Sled and pendulum tests were used to replicate the conditions that produce a perturbation mark on the velocity indicator of a cluster panel. It was verified that a higher peak acceleration is more likely than the impact velocity to cause a perturbation mark. According to the computer simulation results, a driver’s injury could be more severe at higher peak accelerations with a constant impact velocity. If a perturbation mark, which can be used to estimate the impact velocity, is found while investigating a vehicle accident, this mark reveals that the acceleration was higher than that listed in the related crash report. Therefore, the injuries of the occupants could be more serious than those expected at the reported impact velocity.     

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.     

Capacity estimation of torque converters with piston holes using the response surface method and an artificial neural network

In new slim torque converters, lock-up clutches are used to provide high fuel efficiency at low speed. However, the slimness of the converters causes difficulty in heat dissipation, which may damage the friction material and shorten its life span. A cooling hole in the lock-up piston reduces the heat but also reduces the torque because oil flows through the hole due to the pressure difference between the two faces of the piston. In the early stages of the development of this type of torque converter, designers must consider the minimum flow rate required to cool the friction material and the minimum torque capacity required to transmit the engine torque. This research explored two methods of estimating these parameters. In the first method, an estimation equation was derived by combining the response surface method with physical properties such as the centrifugal force, a sudden expansion, a sudden contraction, and the steady flow energy equation. The second method involved the use of an artificial neural network. The feasibility of the estimates based on statistics and on the artificial neural network were confirmed in the design stage by comparing experimental and estimated data. An estimation program was created using the C#.Net language and has been used for actual torque converter designs by the Korea Powertrain Company.     

An advanced theory of thin-walled girders with application to ship vibrations

The paper presents an outline of the advanced theory of thin-walled girders. The improvement includes shear influence on torsion as an extension of shear influence on bending. The analogy between bending and torsion is recognized and pointed out throughout the paper. Complete differential equations of coupled flexural and torsional vibrations for a prismatic girder are derived. In addition, the 8 d.o.f. beam finite element, utilizing the energy approach, is constituted with stiffness and mass matrices, and load vectors. The paper describes determining of geometrical properties of multi-cell open cross-sections by employing the strip element method. Numerical procedures for vibration analyses are outlined. Furthermore, dry natural vibrations of a VLCS (Very Large Container Ship) are analysed by 1D FEM model as a prerogative for hydroelastic analyses of these relatively flexible vessels. Influence of transverse bulkheads is taken into account by increasing torsional stiffness of the ship hull proportionally to their deformation energies. Validation of 1D FEM model is checked by correlation analysis with the vibration response of the fine 3D FEM model.     

Hydrological changes in the Mediterranean Sea in relation to changes in the freshwater budget: A numerical modelling study

The response of the Mediterranean Sea and the various sub-basins to changes in the freshwater budget are investigated in a process-oriented study, using the POM model. The model is first integrated using values of the Nile and Ebro rivers runoff, as well as of the Dardanelles freshwater input, typical of the fifties. The model reaches a steady state representative of that existing in the Mediterranean prior to the major damming period after 90 years of integration. Then the model is integrated using the reduced river runoff values typical of the after-damming period. The additional impact of decadal scale trends in the precipitation rate as well as of intense surface cooling periods/events on the thermohaline circulation during the last 40 years were also examined. The model results show that the dramatic reduction of the Nile freshwater input and to a lesser extent the reduction of the freshwater input from the Dardanelles Straits induced a large increase in the sea surface salinity in the Aegean and Levantine basins in the late sixties/early seventies, in agreement with observations. Furthermore, the Ebro runoff reduction during the same period further enhanced the salinity increase in the Levantine basin as higher salinity surface waters of the western basin reached the eastern basin via the Atlantic Water circulation. This saltier surface layer in the vicinity of the Rhodes Gyre favoured the preconditioning for the formation of the Levantine Intermediate Water, resulting in about 40% increase of its formation rate. This in turn resulted in the production of saltier and larger amounts of deep waters in the various deep-water formation sites. According to the model, the river damming and decreased precipitation since the eighties explain about 95% of the observed salinity increase in the Western Mediterranean Deep Water over the last 40 years. The major contributor to this increase was proved to be the Nile damming. The salt increase in the surface layer is proved to be insufficient to produce alone the two climatic transient events in the deep waters of the Eastern Mediterranean in the late sixties and early nineties, respectively. Surface cooling was found to be important, resulting in large deep water formation and thus allowing the propagation of the increased surface salinity signal to the deep layers. However, model results demonstrate that the river damming played an important role in the long-term salt preconditioning of the surface/intermediate layers, thus contributing in triggering the two events.     

The impact of ship size on ports’ nautical costs

ABSTRACT

Much is known about transport costs at sea and costs made at terminals in ports. About costs, made by ports to provide nautical facilities (incl. infrastructure) and services, not much research is done yet. This paper estimates the impact of increasing ship sizes on costs made by the Port Authority of Amsterdam when providing nautical facilities and services by using hedonic pricing techniques. We have rather unique data on ship’s sizes and harbour dues paid per ship for over 25 years for ships that visited the Port of Amsterdam. Harbour dues paid are used as a proxy for the costs of nautical facilities and services. We have found nearly constant returns to scale, when volume is used as a measure of a ships’ size. An increase in average ship size with 1,000 tonnes deadweight will result in approximately €2 million additional yearly costs (an increase of the average ship size of six percent results in an increase of nautical costs with nearly the same percentage). Our results can be used by Port Authorities and port operators (in case of landlord ports) to estimate costs to be made for providing nautical facilities and services in the near future.     

Sediment profile imaging (SPI) and micro-electrode technologies in impact assessment studies: Example from two fjords in Southern Chile used for fish farming

Two state-of-the-art techniques were used to assess the impact of organic loading from fish farming in two fjords of Southern Chile, Pillan and Reñihue Fjords. A sediment profile imaging (SPI) camera was deployed and sediment microprofiles (oxygen, H₂S, redox and pH) were measured in undisturbed sediment cores collected using a HAPS corer. Four out of seven stations in Pillan Fjord were found to be severely disturbed: SPI images showed azoic conditions (no apparent Redox Potential Discontinuity layer, no evidence of aerobic life form, presence of an uneaten fish food layer, negative OSI scores). These findings were corroborated by very high oxygen consumption rates (700–1200 mmol m^− 2 day^− 1), H₂S concentrations increasing quickly within the sediment column and redox potential decreasing towards negative values within a few mm down core. Results for Reñihue Fjord were not so straightforward. SPI images indicated that most of the stations (R3 to R7) presented well-mixed conditions (high apparent RPD layers, presence of infauna, burrows, etc.), but oxygen profiles yielded consumption rates of 230 to 490 mmol m^− 2 day^− 1 and organic carbon mineralization of 2.16 to 4.53 g C m^− 2 day^− 1. These latter values were close to the limit of aerobic degradation of organic matter although no visible changes were recorded within the sediment column. In view of our findings, the importance of integrating multidisciplinary methodologies in impact assessment studies was discussed.