Harmonizing heavy goods vehicle taxes in Europe: a British view

One of the biggest unresolved problems regarding the completion of the free internal transport market within the European community is the problem of harmonization of taxation on the road haulage industry. As the highest tax country, Britain might be expected to have to reduce its level of taxes as part of any harmonization.

This paper considers the current methodology of the British Department of Transport regarding the allocation of the track and external costs of road transport, in the light of developments in methodology and experience elsewhere in Western Europe and North America. We find a number of reasons for believing that, far from overstating the marginal social cost of use of roads by the road haulage industry, the current British approach actually understates it. Thus any move towards harmonizing tax levels may reduce taxes in Britain at a time when they should be increasing.     

Exposure of Fauna to Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) Traffic on Sandy Beaches

Driving of off-road vehicles (ORVs) on sandy beaches is common and widespread, but is not universally embraced due to putative environmental impacts on beach biota. For ORVs to impact the beach fauna, traffic areas must overlap with faunal habitat: a fundamental pre-requisite for impact assessments but as yet un-quantified for sandy beaches. Thus, this study quantified the spatial and temporal patterns of ORV traffic on five Australian beaches, and measured the degree to which the distribution of intertidal macro-invertebrates overlaps with traffic zones. Traffic volumes on beaches can be considerable (up to 500 vehicles per day). The position of beach traffic across the beach-face is principally governed by tides and driver behavior. Despite driver education campaigns to the contrary, a considerable fraction of vehicles (16–67%) traverses the soft, upper shore near the foredunes. The majority (65%) of burrowing invertebrate species of the intertidal zone is directly exposed to traffic, save for species inhabiting the swash zone. Because beach traffic presents a formidable management challenge, a fundamental first step in identifying whether ecological impacts are indeed likely, is to assess the potential for spatial and temporal conflict between human pressures (e.g., ORVs) and biological resources (e.g., beach fauna). Although this potential is certainly substantial for sandy shores used by ORVs, the actual ecological impacts on the intertidal fauna can only be predicted in situations where the responses (e.g., direct mortality, behavioral changes) of individual species to beach traffic are known.     

“互联网+智能交通”市场进入发展黄金期

正1城市智能交通下一个创新风口统计结果显示,我国一线城市私家车保有量年平均增速达到20%。有限的城市土地供应和快速增长的城市交通需求之间的矛盾日益凸显。根据高德地图的研究,相比2015年,2016年调研的45座主要城市中有80%的城市延时拥堵指数加重。其中,北上广深的出行高峰时期平均每小时拥堵时间长达29 min,对于出行居民的个人年拥堵成本达到9 500元,相当于个人年均收入的     

Physical processes in wheel–rail contact and its implications on vehicle–track interaction

Friction within the wheel–rail contact highly influences all aspects of vehicle–track interaction. Models describing this frictional behaviour are of high relevance, for example, for reliable predictions on drive train dynamics. It has been shown by experiments, that the friction at a certain position on rail is not describable by only one number for the coefficient of friction. Beside the contact conditions (existence of liquids, solid third bodies, etc.) the vehicle speed, normal loading and contact geometry are further influencing factors. State-of-the-art models are not able to account for this sufficiently. Thus, an Extended-Creep-Force-Model was developed taking into account effects from third body layers. This model is able to describe all considered effects. In this way, a significant improvement of the prediction quality with respect to all aspects of vehicle–track interaction is expected.     

Multi-response optimization of diesel engine performance parameters using thumba biodiesel-diesel blends by applying the Taguchi method and grey relational analysis

This paper presents an experimental study that involves an application of the Taguchi method and grey relational analysis to determine the optimum factor level to obtain optimum multiple-performance characteristics of a diesel engine run with different low-percentage thumba biodiesel-diesel blends. Four factors, namely, low-percentage thumba biodiesel-diesel blend, compression ratio, nozzle opening pressure and injection timing were each considered at three levels. An L₉ orthogonal array was used to collect data for various engine performance- and emission-related responses under different engine loads. The signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio and grey relational analysis were used for data analysis. The results of the study revealed that the combination of a blend consisting of 30% thumba biodiesel (B30), a compression ratio of 14, a nozzle opening pressure of 250 bar and an injection timing of 20° produces maximum multiple performance of a diesel engine with minimum multiple emissions from the engine.     

Development of an idle speed engine model using in-cylinder pressure data and an idle speed controller for a small capacity port fuel injected SI engine

An idle speed engine model has been proposed and applied for the development of an idle speed controller for a 125 cc two wheeler spark ignition engine. The procedure uses the measured Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP) at different speeds at a constant fuel rate and throttle position obtained by varying the spark timing. At idling conditions, IMEP corresponds to the friction mean effective pressure. A retardation test was conducted to determine the moment of inertia of the engine. Using these data, a model for simulating the idle speed fluctuations, when there are unknown torque disturbances, was developed. This model was successfully applied to the development of a closed loop idle speed controller based on spark timing. The controller was then implemented on a dSPACE Micro Autobox on the actual engine. The Proportional Derivative Integral (PID) controller parameters obtained from the model were found to match fairly well with the experimental values, indicating the usefulness of the developed idle speed model. Finally, the optimized idle speed control algorithm was embedded in and successfully demonstrated with an in-house built, low cost engine management system (EMS) specifically designed for two-wheeler applications.     

U.S. import/export container flow modeling and disruption analysis

International containerized freight movement is a vital part of the supply chain for many companies, and a critical element of moving consumer goods to points of retail sale within the U.S. Containerized imports also present a clear security concern (e.g., terrorists attempting to ship “dirty bombs,” chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons, into the U.S. in a shipping container). The goal of the research presented here is to create a modeling tool for analyzing flows of U.S. imports and exports of containerized freight, and the potential changes in those flows under a variety of conditions (e.g., port disruptions, extensive security-related delays, etc.). Our focus is on movements through maritime container ports, and not overland movements between the U.S. and Canada or Mexico.The network model, referred to as the System for Import/Export Routing and Recovery Analysis (SIERRA), represents container movements between the U.S. and 46 other countries that account for the vast majority of U.S. imports and exports. The SIERRA model is a network equilibrium model that predicts flows between foreign countries and North American ports, the total volumes handled (import and export) by each port, the modal volumes (truck and rail) moving domestically into and out of each port, and volumes between each port and a set of transportation analysis zones within the U.S.     

A finite element model for flexible pipe armor wire instability

The constructive disposition of metallic and plastic layers confers flexible pipes with high and low axial stiffness respectively when tensile and compressive loads are applied. Under certain conditions typically found during deepwater installation or operation, flexible pipes may be subjected to high axial compression, sometimes accompanied by bending. If not properly designed, the structure may not be able to withstand this loading and fails. From practical experience observed offshore and in laboratory tests two principal mechanisms, which will be discussed in this paper, have been identified regarding the configuration of the armor wires. When the pipe fails by compression the armor wires may exhibit localized lateral or radial deflections, consequently permanent damage is observed in the armor wires with a sudden reduction of the structure’s axial stiffness. The pressure armor may also unlock, thus causing potential fluid leakage.In this work a finite element model is developed to estimate the critical instability load and failure modes. An axi-symmetric model is constructed employing a complex combination of beam and spring elements. For each armor layer only one wire needs to be modeled, hence the computational cost is minimized without compromising the phenomenon characterization. A parametric case study is performed for a typical flexible pipe structure, where the friction coefficient between the wire armors and the external pressure are varied, and the critical instability loads and failure modes are obtained and results are discussed.     

通过形状差异修正模式方法进行的损伤识别试验(英文)

An experimental program was undertaken to test the feasibility to detect the occurrence of structural damage using a modified mode shape difference technique. The vibration response of a steel beam fixed at one end and hinged at the other was obtained for the intact and damage conditions. Modal analysis was performed to extract the frequencies and mode shapes. The method shows a good potential in detection of occurrence and location of damage.