Parameter identification for a LuGre model based on steady-state tire conditions

The purpose of this study was to effectively identify parameters for a LuGre friction model based on experimental measures. In earlier work related to this study (Yang et al., 2009), which was based on the characters of polygonal wear (Sueoka and Ryu, 1997), we showed a frictional vibration model for a mass on a moving belt. This model reflected lateral vibrations caused by velocity and toe-in angle. An important aspect of the present study is the improved friction model. A previous friction model, which divided the process into four parts, expressed the sable excited vibration well but failed to reflect the hysteresis loop change when vehicles accelerated or decelerated continuously. A LuGre friction model can solve this problem, but several model parameters must be obtained experimentally. We measured contact width and length of tires as vertical pressure changed; this provided a theoretical basis for apparent stiffness of a unit of tire tread. Based on tire data from Bakker E’s article in a SAE paper from 1987, we identified the Stribeck exponent and Stribeck velocity in LuGre. Then, the results were implemented in a vibration system that verified the rationality of the data.     

ALSTOM的双层电动车和配套的质量程序

瑞典国家铁路公司(SJ AB)为斯德哥尔摩大区间运输向ALSTOM订购了113辆CORADIA双层电动车.文章介绍了开发该动车的总体技术规定以及方便客户操作的制造规范和详细规定.瑞典冬季的最低温度达-40℃,这对制造和质量提出了高要求.特别提到了针对设计阶段配套的质量程序.     

The Demise of a Tropical Coastal Lagoon as Breeding Habitat for Ground-Nesting Waterbirds: Unintended,but Anticipated Consequences of Development

Laguna Cuyutlán (Colima, Mexico), an Important Bird Area, used to provide breeding habitat for ground-nesting waterbirds. During 2014 and 2015, nesting efforts of laughing gull, black skimmer, and royal, gull-billed and Forster's terns failed almost completely due to inundation, while least terns and snowy plovers fared the same during 2014. No anomalies in rainfall, tidal level, or coseismic subsidence explained such failure. Rather, the inundations were due to the enlarging of Canal Tepalcates that connects the lagoon with the sea, which was widened from 100 to 300 m and dredged to 17-m deep. Before this, the hydrodynamics were regulated by evaporation and runoff. Now, increased seawater volumes dominate the basin's hydrodynamics. The failure of Laguna Cuyutlán as a breeding habitat for these birds is an important threat for these species, as this lagoon held one of the < 20 colonies known for several of these species along the western coast of North and Central America. Documenting this demise of Laguna Cuyutlán for ground-nesting waterbirds transcends the regional scale as it emphasizes the little consideration still given to biodiversity vs. economic development, and is a warning for coastal projects in other developing areas of the world.     

Computer Vision and Highway Automation

A survey is given on the development of machine vision for road vehicle guidance. Through early work in real-time simulation with real hardware in the loop at UBM, and through the EUREKA-project 'Prometheus' from 1987 to 1994 following the 100 th anniversary of road vehicle developments since 1886, Europe has pioneered the field. Since first fully autonomous testdrives in 1986, and first participation in public traffic in 1992, considerable progress has been achieved. With continuous growth in computing power of microprocessors at a rate of about one order of magnitude every four to five years, sufficient performance levels for dynamic machine vision will be available within one or two decades. The principles of dynamic vision as developed at UBM and performance levels achieved are discussed.     

Effect of handling characteristics on minimum time cornering with torque vectoring

In this paper, the effect of both passive and actively-modified vehicle handling characteristics on minimum time manoeuvring for vehicles with 4-wheel torque vectoring (TV) capability is studied. First, a baseline optimal TV strategy is sought, independent of any causal control law. An optimal control problem (OCP) is initially formulated considering 4 independent wheel torque inputs, together with the steering angle rate, as the control variables. Using this formulation, the performance benefit using TV against an electric drive train with a fixed torque distribution, is demonstrated. The sensitivity of TV-controlled manoeuvre time to the passive understeer gradient of the vehicle is then studied. A second formulation of the OCP is introduced where a closed-loop TV controller is incorporated into the system dynamics of the OCP. This formulation allows the effect of actively modifying a vehicle's handling characteristic via TV on its minimum time cornering performance of the vehicle to be assessed. In particular, the effect of the target understeer gradient as the key tuning parameter of the literature-standard steady-state linear single-track model yaw rate reference is analysed.     

The delimitation of exclusive economic zones

In this paper Admiral Kapoor examines some of the problems relating to the delimitation of maritime boundaries, particularly that of exclusive economic zones, as they affect the hydrographic surveyor.     

Management of coastal eutrophication: Integration of field data, ecosystem-scale simulations and screening models

A hybrid approach for eutrophication assessment in estuarine and coastal ecosystems is presented. The ASSETS screening model (http://www.eutro.org) classifies eutrophication status into five classes: High (better), Good, Moderate, Poor and Bad (worse). This model was applied to a dataset from a shallow coastal barrier island system in southwest Europe (Ria Formosa), with a resulting score of Good. A detailed dynamic model was developed for this ecosystem, and the outputs were used to drive the screening model. Four scenarios were run on the research model: pristine, standard (simulates present loading), half and double the current nutrient loading. The Ria Formosa has a short water residence time and eutrophication symptoms are not apparent in the water column. However, benthic symptoms are expressed as excessive macroalgal growth and strong dissolved oxygen fluctuations in the tide pools. The standard simulation results showed an ASSETS grade identical to the field data application. The application of the screening model to the other scenario outputs showed the responsiveness of ASSETS to changes in pressure, state and response, scoring a grade of High under pristine conditions, Good for half the standard scenario and Moderate for double the present loadings. The use of this hybrid approach allows managers to test the outcome of measures against a set of well-defined metrics for the evaluation of state. It additionally provides a way of testing and improving the pressure component of ASSETS. Sensitivity analysis revealed that sub-sampling the output of the research model at a monthly scale, typical for the acquisition of field data, may significantly affect the outcome of the screening model, by overlooking extreme events such as occasional night-time anoxia in tide pools.     

Short sea shipping: a Canadian perspective

Short sea shipping has begun to receive attention from governments worldwide, as they seek to reduce traffic congestion and greenhouse gases. Despite a long coastline and its interest in international maritime affairs, the Canadian government had, until 2003, placed greater emphasis on resolving the issues of other transport modes. In July 2003, Canada and the United States signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on Sharing Short Sea Shipping Information and Experience. Subsequently, the federal government embarked on an assessment of short sea shipping through a series of workshops. This paper explores the key issues with respect to further development of short sea shipping from a Canadian perspective. It examines the critical limitations and impediments to further growth of short sea services in Canada and trans-border trade with the USA, and identifies a number of questions Canadian policymakers need to answer.     

2006年铁道养路机械展销会成果介绍

在卡卢加举行的第12届"2006年铁道线路机械"例行国际专业展销会上,100多家俄罗斯及世界各国的企业和组织展示出了在铁路轨道技术装备方面最新的研发成果。展览会用实物反映了在铁道线路运营方面的2个重要的发展方向,一是利用功能更多的机械采用先进的养路作业工艺;二是线路整体在科学技术进步方面有了进一步的发展。展览会向参加者和各方来宾介绍了各种现代化的高生产率机械、检查设备和线路诊断设备、机械化的工具、高效的技术研发成果等。     

Initial results from long-term measurements of atmospheric humidity and related parameters in the marine boundary layer at two locations in the Gulf of Mexico

Measurements of boundary layer moisture have been acquired from Rotronic MP-100 sensors deployed on two NDBC buoys in the northern Gulf of Mexico from June through November 1993. For one sensor, which was retrieved approximately 8 months after deployment, the post- and precalibrations agreed closely and fell well within WMO specifications for accuracy. The second sensor operated continuously from June 1993 to February 1997 (3.5 years). Buoy observations of relative humidity and supporting data were used to calculate specific humidity and the surface fluxes of latent and sensible heat. Specific humidities from the buoys were compared with observations of moisture obtained from nearby ship reports, and the correlations were generally high (0.7–0.9). Surface gravity wave spectra were also acquired. The time series of specific humidity and the other buoy parameters revealed three primary scales of variability, small (h), synoptic (days), and seasonal (months). The synoptic variability was clearly dominant and occurred primarily during September, October, and November. Most of the synoptic variability was due to frontal systems that dropped down into the Gulf of Mexico from the continental US followed by air masses which were cold and dry. Cross-correlation analyses of the buoy data indicated that: (1) the moisture field was highly coherent over distances of 800 km or more in the northern Gulf of Mexico; and (2) both specific humidity and air temperature served as tracers of the motion associated with propagating atmospheric disturbances. These correlation analyses also revealed that the prevailing weather systems generally entered the buoy domain from the South prior to September, but primarily from the North thereafter. Spectra of the various buoy parameters indicated strong diurnal and semidiurnal variability for barometric pressure and sea surface temperature (SST) and lesser variability for air temperature, wind speed and significant wave height. The surface fluxes of latent and sensible heat were dominated by the synoptic events which took place from September through November with the transfer of latent heat being primarily from the ocean to the atmosphere. Finally, an analysis of the surface wave observations from each buoy, which included calculations of wave age and estimates of surface roughness, indicate that major heat and moisture flux events coincide with periods of active wave growth, although the data were insufficient to identify any causal relationships.