Methodology for bus structure torsion stiffness and natural vibration frequency prediction based on a dimensional analysis approach

Engineering bus design requires testing of bus structures prototypes in order to guarantee a certain level of strength and an appropriate static and dynamic behavior of the bus superstructure when exposed to road loads. However, experimental testing of real bus structures is very expensive as it requires expensive resources and space. If testing is done on a scale bus model the previous required expenses are considerably reduced. Therefore, a novel methodology based on dimensional analysis applied to bus structure prediction to evaluate the bus structure static and dynamic performance is proposed. The static performance is evaluated attending to torsion stiffness and the dynamic in terms of the natural vibration frequencies and rollover threshold. A scale bus has been manufactured and dimensionless parameters have been defined in order to project the results obtained in the scale bus model to a larger model. Validation of the proposed methodology has been carried out under experimental and finite element analysis.     

Preview suspension control for a full tracked vehicle

In this study, preview control algorithms for the active and semi-active suspension systems of a full tracked vehicle (FTV) are designed based on a 3-D.O.F model and evaluated. The main issue of this study is to make the ride comfort characteristics of a fast moving tracked vehicle better to keep an operator’s driving capability. Since road wheels almost trace the profiles of the road surface as long as the track doesn’t depart from the ground, the preview information can be obtained by measuring only the absolute position or velocity of the first road wheel. Simulation results show that the performance of the sky-hook suspension system almost follows that of full state feedback suspension system and the on-off semi-active system carries out remarkable performance with the combination of 12 on-off semi-active suspension units. The results simulated with 1^st and 2^nd weighting sets mean that the suspension system combined with the soft type of inner suspension and hard type of outer suspension can carry out better ride comfort characteristics than that with identical suspensions. The full tracked vehicle (FTV) system is uncontrollable and the system is split into controllable and uncontrollable subspace using singular value decomposition transformation. Frequency response curves to four types of inputs, such as heaving, pitching, rolling, and warping inputs, also demonstrate the merits of preview control in ride comfort. All the frequency characteristic responses confirm the continuous time results.     

Simulation of flow in diesel particulate filter system using metal fiber filter media

Metal fiber is introduced as a new filter media in wall-flow Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) system. This technology has high temperature durability which is required for filter regeneration, and can maintain the mechanical strength even in the extreme exhaust-related vibrations of vehicles. However, the regeneration near the wall (outer layer) is more difficult because of the heat loss and reduced gas flow near the wall. In this study, a flow is simulated to determine the flow control method for the more uniform flow in all filter layer. By using Star CCM+ commercial software, we obtain local velocity, streamline, and pressure distributions in the filter, which are typically difficult to obtain from measurements. The major control factors are the filter porosity, size and location of the distribution plate, and the number of blades of the swirler. By placing the distribution plate in front of the filter, the flow velocity near the wall was increased. The optimum location and size of the flat plate were chosen. By attaching the blade on the plate the flow velocity near the wall was increased more. Therefore, the regeneration efficiency is increased by using the swirler-type metal fiber DPF system.     

Realization of pmp-based control for hybrid electric vehicles in a backward-looking simulation

Optimal control is generally not possible without information about the future coming up, and it is not easy to obtain an optimal solution even though the information is given a priori. In this paper, a control concept based on Pontryagin’s Minimum Principle (PMP) is introduced as an efficient solution to generate an optimal control trajectory for Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HVEs) when the performance of the vehicles is evaluated on scheduled driving cycles at a simulation level. The main idea of the control concept is to minimize Hamiltonian, which is interpreted as equivalent fuel consumption, and the Hamiltonian is characterized by a co-state, which is interpreted as a weighting factor for the electrical usage. A key aspect of the control problem is that an appropriate initial condition of the co-state is required to satisfy the boundary condition of the problem. In this study, techniques to calculate the Hamiltonian in different hybrid configurations are introduced, and a methodology to look for the initial condition of the co-state is studied, so that the controller is able to realize a desired State Of Charge (SOC) trajectory. To address the issue, we utilize a shooting method with multiple initial conditions based on the concept of the Newton-Raphson method, and all these techniques are realized in a backward looking simulator. The simulation results show that the PMP-based control is a very efficient approach to produce the optimal control trajectory, and the performance is compared to the optimal solution solved by Dynamic Programming (DP).     

Finite element analysis of overlay incorporating stress absorbing membrane interlayers against reflective cracking

A wheel tracking test was modelled to gain better understanding of the deflection and stress-strain distribution in an overlaid cracked pavements with and without membrane interlayer （SAMI）. For this purpose, commercial finite element software Abaqus 6.7-1 was used. Two different models were considered, one incorporating stress absorbing membrane interlayers （SAMIs） and the other without SAMI. In the study, full bond condition was assumed for the boundaries between the layers, and a linear elastic model was used for the analysis. The results show that introduction of SAMI caused greater deflection of the pavement. It is found that although with SAMIs, low stiffness is required, a very low stiffness may yield undesirable results. The results show that the introduction of SAMIs results in high strain concentration around the crack region, whilst the strain in the overlay is smaller than the values predicted in the models without SAMIs.     

Analysis of travel activity determinants using robust statistics

This study investigates travel behavior determinants based on a multiday travel survey conducted in the region of Ghent, Belgium. Due to the limited data reliability of the data sample and the influence of outliers exerted on classical principal component analysis, robust principal component analysis (ROBPCA) is employed in order to reveal the explanatory variables responsible for most of the variability. Interpretation of the results is eased by utilizing ROSPCA. The application of ROSPCA reveals six distinct principal components where each is determined by a few variables. Among others, our results suggest a key role of variable categories such as journey purpose-related impedance and journey inherent constraints. Surprisingly, the variables associated with journey timing turn out to be less important. Finally, our findings reveal the critical role of outliers in travel behavior analysis. This suggests that a systematic understanding of how outliers contribute to observed mobility behavior patterns, as derived from travel surveys, is needed. In this regard, the proposed methods serve for processing raw data typically used in activity-based modelling.     

Model-based control system design in a urea-SCR aftertreatment system based on NH3 sensor feedback

This paper presents preliminary control system simulation results in a urea-selective catalytic reduction (SCR) aftertreatment system based on NH₃ sensor feedback. A four-state control-oriented lumped parameter model is used to analyze the controllability and observability properties of the urea-SCR plant. A model-based estimator is designed via simulation and a control system is developed with design based on a sliding mode control framework. The control system based on NH₃ sensor feedback is analyzed via simulation by comparing it to a control system developed based on NO_x sensor feedback. Simulation results show that the NH₃ sensor-based strategy performs very similarly in comparison to a NO_x sensor-based strategy. The control system performance metrics for NO_x index, urea index, urea usage, and NH₃ slip suggest that the NO_x sensor can be a potential alternative to a NO_x sensor for urea-SCR control applications.     

The trade-off between trips and distance traveled in analyzing the emissions impacts of center-based telecommuting

Several travel indicators were compared between telecommuting (TC) days and non-telecommuting days for a sample of 72 center-based telecommuters in California. Distance traveled decreased significantly on TC days, with average reductions of 51 person-miles (58%) and 35 vehicle-miles (53%). When weighted by telecommuting frequency, average reductions of 11.9% in PMT and 11.5% in VMT were found over a five-day work week. Person-trips and vehicle-trips increased slightly (but not significantly) on TC days. This was due to statistically significant increases in commute trips by telecommuters (who more often went home for lunch on their TC days), partly counteracted by decreases in non-commute travel. The drive-alone mode share increased on TC days, both for all trips, and for commute trips in particular. Walking and biking shares also increased modestly on TC days, whereas shares of transit and ridesharing declined. Despite the increase in trip rates, TC-day reductions were found for all pollutants analyzed: 15% for total organic gas emissions, 21% for carbon monoxide, 35% for oxides of nitrogen, and 51% for particulate matter. The reduction in VMT more than compensated for the marginal increase in number of trips (and consequently, cold starts) on telecommuting days.     

现状铁路地道砖砌挡土墙的结构设计及验算

对沧州市黄河路下穿京沪铁路处地道节点的现状砖砌挡墙进行翻建修复,对不同高度的挡墙进行了计算,结合重力式挡土墙抗弯和抗剪承载力值,得出了不同高度挡土墙的适用结构形式,可供相似工程的设计及建设工作者参考.     

两类锚泊系统在漂浮式双体浮动式波能转换装置垂荡运动状态下的性能（英文）

This work investigated the influence of two types of mooring systems on the hydrodynamic performance of a two-body floating wave energy converter(WEC). It also investigated the effects of the physical parameters of the mooring system on the amount of extractable power from incident waves in the frequency domain. The modeled converter comprised a floating body(a buoy), a submerged body with two mooring systems, and a coupling system for two bodies. The coupling system was a simplified power take-off system that was modeled by a linear spring-damper model. The tension leg mooring system could drastically affect the heave motion of the submerged body of the model and increase relative displacement between the two bodies. The effects of the stiffness parameter of the mooring system on power absorption exceeded those of the pretension tendon force.