Model course to revalidate deck officers’ competences using simulators

In accordance with Part A, Chapter I, Section I/11 Revalidation of Certificates of the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) 2010 Convention, continued evaluation of professional competence shall be established, among others, by successfully completing an approved training course or courses. Every master, officer and radio operator holding a certificate issued or recognised under any chapter of the convention other than chapter VI, who is serving at sea or intends to return to sea after a period ashore, shall be required, at intervals not exceeding 5 years, to demonstrate continued professional competence, in order to continue to qualify for seagoing service. The main objective of this research is to design a model course using simulation technology to train and demonstrate seafarers’ competence in accordance with the provisions of STCW Code for existing seafarers who need to revalidate their professional maritime certificates also in accordance with the standards governing the use of simulators, Reg I/12 of 2010 STCW Code. The purpose of this revalidation simulation-based model course is to assist maritime training institutes and their teaching staff in organising and introducing specific training courses for revalidation of certificates of competence (CoCs) as well as enhancing, updating or supplementing existing training material where the quality and effectiveness of the training courses may thereby be improved. Only those STCW competences relating to ship bridge simulators will be considered for the model course scenario development and testing.     

Modelling bicycle use intention: the role of perceptions

Users’ perceptions are identified as key elements to understand bicycle use, whose election cannot be explained with usual mobility variables and socio-economic characteristics. A hybrid model is proposed to model the intention of bicycle use; it combines a structural equations model that captures intentions and a choice model. The framework is applied to a case of a university campus in Madrid that is studying a new internal bike system. Results show that four latent variables (convenience, pro-bike, physical determinants and external restrictions) help explaining intention to use bike, representing a number of factors that are linked to individual perceptions.     

Evaluation of a vehicle directional control with a fractional order PD<Superscript>μ</Superscript> controller

In this paper, a novel controller, the fractional order PD^μ controller, is designed to improve the performance of the driver-vehicle system. First, fractional calculus and fractional order PI^λD^μ controller are introduced. A control algorithm for vehicle directional control using the fractional order PD^μ controller is then presented. Based on preview-follower theory, the on-line tuning method of the fractional order PD^μ controller is designed. By comparing simulated and experimental results, the validity and robustness of the proposed fractional order PD^μ controller in the closed loop system are verified. Finally, comprehensive evaluations are performed between the systems with the fractional order PD^μ controller and with an integer PD controller. The results demonstrate that the use of the fractional order controller leads to an improvement of the performance of the driver-vehicle system.     

Existence of urban-scale macroscopic fundamental diagrams: Some experimental findings

A field experiment in Yokohama (Japan) reveals that a macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD) linking space-mean flow, density and speed exists on a large urban area. The experiment used a combination of fixed detectors and floating vehicle probes as sensors. It was observed that when the somewhat chaotic scatter-plots of speed vs. density from individual fixed detectors were aggregated the scatter nearly disappeared and points grouped neatly along a smoothly declining curve. This evidence suggests, but does not prove, that an MFD exists for the complete network because the fixed detectors only measure conditions in their proximity, which may not represent the whole network. Therefore, the analysis was enriched with data from GPS-equipped taxis, which covered the entire network. The new data were filtered to ensure that only full-taxi trips (i.e., representative of automobile trips) were retained in the sample. The space-mean speeds and densities at different times-of-day were then estimated for the whole study area using relevant parts of the detector and taxi data sets. These estimates were still found to lie close to a smoothly declining curve with deviations smaller than those of individual links – and entirely explained by experimental error. The analysis also revealed a fixed relation between the space-mean flows on the whole network, which are easy to estimate given the existence of an MFD, and the trip completion rates, which dynamically measure accessibility.     

Bus rapid transit systems: a comparative assessment

There is renewed interest in many developing and developed countries in finding ways of providing efficient and effective public transport that does not come with a high price tag. An increasing number of nations are asking the question—what type of public transport system can deliver value for money? Although light rail has often been promoted as a popular ‘solution’, there has been progressively emerging an attractive alternative in the form of bus rapid transit (BRT). BRT is a system operating on its own right-of-way either as a full BRT with high quality interchanges, integrated smart card fare payment and efficient throughput of passengers alighting and boarding at bus stations; or as a system with some amount of dedicated right-of-way (light BRT) and lesser integration of service and fares. The notion that buses essentially operate in a constrained service environment under a mixed traffic regime and that trains have privileged dedicated right-of-way, is no longer the only sustainable and valid proposition. This paper evaluates the status of 44 BRT systems in operation throughout the world as a way of identifying the capability of moving substantial numbers of passengers, using infrastructure whose costs overall and per kilometre are extremely attractive. When ongoing lifecycle costs (operations and maintenance) are taken into account, the costs of providing high capacity integrated BRT systems are an attractive option in many contexts.     

Cross-sector Analysis of Four Renegotiated Transport PPPs in Portugal

Abstract

This paper uses the Fertagus renegotiation results as a reference and explores the features that made it such a widely commended case, aiming to identify the best practice to be followed in other cases. The two main questions that this paper aimed to respond were: Was the success of the renegotiation process in the Fertagus contract due to mode-specific factors? Are those factors (mode specific or not) transferable to other modes under public private partnership (PPP) contracts and if so, to what extent? Regarding the mode specificity and transferability analysis, it can be noticed that much of the features were not mode specific in theory, however for the successful transferability to other transport modes, some changes should be made to the PPP model taking into account modal specificities and national contexts.     

Model Test on Mechanism of Shear Resistance Borne by Concrete Shear Key and Friction of Element Joint of the Immersed Tunnel北大核心CSCD

By scale model tests, it proves the mechanism mode of shear resistance borne by friction of contact area and concrete shear key in different contact stress states and cushion thicknesses of shear key. The results show that friction plays a significant role on shear resistance of element joint. © 2018, Editorial Office of "Modern Tunnelling Technology". All right reserved.     

Law and Characteristics Analysis of Domestic Tunnel Construction Accidents from 2006 to 2016北大核心CSCD

With the rapid development of tunnel construction in China, strengthening statistical studies of domestic tunnel construction accidents is of great significance in order to understand the safety status of tunnel construction and the development trends of tunnel construction accidents and for exploring the direction of future scientific re-search. There were 89 tunnel construction accidents in China (not including subway tunnels or municipal tunnels)from 2006 to 2016. The characteristics of these accidents are analyzed in terms of time distribution, spatial distribu-tion, grade and type of accident according to the statistics by means of line charts, bar charts and pie charts. Corre-sponding prevention and control recommendations are put forward considering the factors such as year, month, work-ing day, time period, region, location, grade and type. © 2018, Editorial Office of "Modern Tunnelling Technology". All right reserved.     

Back Analysis of Surrounding Rock Mechanical Parameters of Underground Caverns Based on Genetic Algorithm北大核心CSCD

Surrounding rocks are the main bearing structure of underground caverns, and mechanical parameters used in design and analysis affect the result reliability directly. Based on the monitoring data of surrounding rocks of a water diversion tunnel and genetic algorithm, secondary development of software ABAQUS was conducted, related genetic algorithm was programmed to back analyze the mechanical parameters of surrounding rocks of underground caverns, then a comparison between the calculated parameters and the designed parameters was taken to discuss the rationality of the designed parameters. The results show that the inversion values are larger than the designed ones, and the displacements calculated by the inversion parameters are smaller than that of the original parameter values, showing that the parameters adopted in design are safe. The analysis results prove that the method proposed in this paper is available for parameter analysis in similar projects. © 2018, Editorial Office of "Modern Tunnelling Technology". All right reserved.     

Controlling Structural Deformation of Surrounding Rock Passed by a Deep-Buried Tunnel北大核心CSCD

Layered rock masses with rapid and serious initial deformation and anisotropy regarding the spatial dis-tribution of the failure are encountered during the construction of many large and deeply buried tunnels on the Lan-zhou-Chongqing railway. It is difficult to deal with the resulting problems with conventional control measures, and additional support measures are frequently needed, which significantly affects construction. Focusing on this special large non-linear deformation, the failure mechanism of the large structural deformation of layered rock masses is thor-oughly analyzed by geological site surveys, laboratory tests, site tests and 3DEC discrete element numerical simula-tion. The research results show that high geostress induces rapid and strong squeezing deformation after excavation in low-strength rock masses, and anisotropy of the layered rock mass controls the stress redistribution after excava-tion and the asymmetrical distribution of tunnel section deformation. Based on the asymmetric deformation mecha-nism of the rock mass, a directional support measure for the disturbance anisotropy of the layered rock mass is pro-posed as a rock mass control to reinforce it in an active way. © 2018, Editorial Office of "Modern Tunnelling Technology". All right reserved.