A user‐resource planning framework for offshore recreational artificial reefs

Abstract

Artificial reefs have been used extensively in coastal waters to attract and enhance recreational fishery resources. In the United States, they have been traditionally built from “materials of opportunity”; using limited budgets. This paper explores some past planning philosophies and presents a recent artificial reef deployment case that demonstrates a lack of sensitivity to local and regional recreational demand. A systems framework is developed to guide future planning efforts in artificial reef development. The framework is intended to integrate previously fragmented knowledge and to demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of artificial reef planning. Emphasis is given to advance planning, user dimensions, and the integral issue of reef access.     

The Impact of Recreation on Barrier Islands: A Case Study on Masonboro Island

Since 1992, coastal researchers at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington have been documenting the impacts of human recreational use on Masonboro Island, a component of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve, and the subsequent natural processes that mitigate these impacts. Both short-term and long-term natural mitigational processes were identified. The effects of these processes were found to be much more rapid than similar impacts on typical terrestrial settings. However, careful examination of the data suggests that both physical location of the impact site and natural variability of weather patterns and events play a role. Management implications of these findings are proposed.     

Coastal communities—partners or puppets in outer continental shelf development

This article reviews the history of esthetics and its role in the development of outdoor recreation policy. Current research is also reviewed, demonstrating the broad scope and complexity of esthetics as a focus for research. Finally, in the absence of sufficient research for formulating coastal recreation planning and management decisions, the ethics of coastal recreation “development”; is considered.     

Evaluating the energy performance of a SUV hybrid electric vehicle

This paper analyzes the energetic performance of the hybrid Lexus RX 400h, through on-board measurements. Several speed profiles were analyzed, for three driving types, successive stop and go cycles, three speed profiles, crossing an electronic toll collection booth, and a roundabout. In stop and go situations the internal combustion engine did not work (the torque needed to impulse the vehicle in the stop and go situations was only supported by the electric engines), as well as in the situations of constant low speeds (50 or 60 km h^?1). The auxiliary support given by the electric engines in the accelerations, as well as the importance of the energy regeneration system on the batteries’ load recovery is also demonstrated. When compared with similar conventional vehicles, the Lexus RX 400h has lower combined energy consumption between 1.2% and 60%.     

A regional railroad network optimization model for coal transportation

A regional railroad network is presented to evaluate the system's response to increased coal traffic. An optimal, multimodal, coal-shipping pattern is developed for the study region to minimize total costs and to efficiently use the existing network. A two-stage, general model allocates resources among demands and then assigns flows to the network according to efficiency criteria. The model is sufficiently general to permit modification for specific needs, assumptions and data. Government agencies and industries can apply the model in resource allocation decisions and transportation policy analysis.     

Development of hot stamped center pillar using form die with channel type indirect blank holder

The hot stamping process has been used in the automotive industry to reduce the weight of the body-in-white and to increase passenger safety via improved crashworthiness. However, defects such as fracture and wrinkle occur when hot stamping is performed using a conventional drawing or forming method. In this study, a channel-type indirect blank holder (CIBH) is proposed to develop a high-strength center pillar in form-type hot stamping, so that the aforementioned drawbacks are overcome. This type of blank holder plays an important role in reducing severe wrinkling at the flange; such wrinkling leads to folding after the completion of form-type hot-stamping. First, we investigated the effect of the channel shape on the indirect blank holding force by using a simplified two-dimensional plane-strain stamping process. Second, we selected the slope angle and corner radius of the channel as the main shape parameters by finite element analysis and artificial neural network (ANN). It is known that fracture at the hot formed wall and wrinkle at the flange are significantly affected by the slope angle of the channel, and the appropriate value for eliminating fracture and wrinkle is determined to be 99°. By performing hot stamping using a form die with the selected channel, we can manufacture a high-strength center pillar without wrinkle and fracture.     

Influence of load and inflation pressure on the tyre rolling resistance

Tyre load and inflation pressure are important factors controlling rolling resistance of road vehicles. The article presents results obtained in the Technical University of Gdańsk during laboratory and road measurements of different car tyres rolling on different pavements. The knowledge of rolling resistance characteristics is important for modelling car dynamics as well as fuel consumption. It is also necessary to establish proper test conditions in the future standardized on-road method of measuring rolling resistance. The results indicate that while an increase of load always leads to the increase of rolling resistance force, the influence on Coefficient of Rolling Resistance is more complicated and unpredictable. They also indicate that tyres with high rolling resistance are more sensitive to inflation pressure changes than low rolling resistance tyres.     

Implementation of discharging/charging current sensorless state-of-charge estimator reflecting cell-to-cell variations in lithium-ion series battery packs

This paper offers novel insights to the design and implementation of an innovative state-of-charge (SOC) estimator for the lithium-ion (Li-Ion) series battery pack. The most interesting feature of this approach is that it can utilize information from each filtered terminal voltage of the Li-Ion cells connected in series for SOC estimation of the battery pack. Without actual sensing each discharging/charging current (DCC) applied to the Li-Ion cells, it is possible to extract each DCC estimation from the corresponding filtered terminal voltages with an equivalent electrical circuit model (EECM) identification of all Li-Ion cells in the battery pack. There are two advantages to SOC estimation of the battery pack with this approach. First, the proposal can be implemented simply and effectively, reducing the computational steps required for SOC estimation. By reducing computational steps, the proposal is expected to be more cost-effective. Second, the approach guarantees an improved SOC performance, even if the battery pack results in inevitable cell-to-cell variation among Li-Ion cells. Accordingly, there are fewer differences to previously estimated DCCs among Li-Ion cells. Specifically, all values from the estimated DCCs are properly compensated for by simultaneous parameter modification according to each cell’s electrochemical characteristics. Experimental results clearly demonstrate that our DCC sensorless SOC estimator provides robust SOC performance for the battery pack. This approach considered an experimental battery pack (12S1P) connected in series using 2.6 Ah LiCoO2 cells produced by Samsung SDI.     

Longhaul feeder services in an era of changing technology: an Asia-Pacific perspective

Traditional liner carriers, operating in the highly competitive commercial environment of the last few years, have attempted to lower the marginal cost of each box carried. Technological improvements in both construction and propulsion systems have led to a steady growth in carrying capacity. Ships of 600+ TEUs are now in service and, as a result of this trend, have displaced 'smaller' ships from the major east-west trades. The more competitive environment of these trades has in turn led to a redeployment of ships in the 2500+ TEU range to the north-south trades. The result has been a rapid increase in north-south capacity, including feeder services and falling freight rates. Despite the current excess supply in shipping and historically low freight rates, significant developments in technology have created opportunities for new fast containerships. The paper analyses the key economic factors in the differentiation of the new fast ship technology from the traditionally designed containerships and demonstrates the potential financial viability to owners of these new 'greyhounds'.     

Conditional modelling of tanker market risk using route specific freight rates

This paper provides statistical evidence in support of the view, widely held in the tanker industry, that there are systematic differences in the degree of risk involved in investing in tankers of different sizes, and in operating tankers in spot and time charter markets. The industry view, broadly supported by the results of this paper, is that larger vessels are 'risker' assets than smaller vessels, and operating vessels in the time-charter market is less risky than employing them on a spot basis. The results are obtained by using a method derived from the financial economics literature, which models both the conditional mean and variance of a variable, known as GARCH modelling. Only one other paper has applied this method to the tanker market, and these results provide confirmatory support of those findings.