Cargo handling productivity. Part 2. The findings

This is the second of two papers on cargo handling productivity presenting the results of the model developed int he first [1] which had been designed to test a productivity measurement method with cross-sectional empirical data. Four productivity measures were employed. Two related cargo handling to time, with labour brought into the analysis as an independent variable. The third productivity measure expressed total throughput as an aspect of labour productivity, while the final measure was a full productivity index developed by relating output to both capital and labour.

The productivity measurement technique demonstrated that this method can be used for cross-sectional studies and can cope with and allow for variation in non-controllable extraneous factors, thus proving useful for policy decision-makers in shipping lines and/or port authorities.

This paper presents the results of the prodictivity analysis for which the analytical design was decribed in Part 1. The first section briefly restates the productivity indices developed. The principal results and tests on these measures are present in Section 2 with conclusion following in Section 3.     

Experimental investigation of abrasive flow machining effects on injector nozzle geometries,engine performance,and emissions in a di diesel engine

The effects of the Abrasive Flow Machining (AFM) process on a direct injection (DI) Diesel engine fuel injector nozzle are studied. Geometry characterization techniques were developed to measure the microscopic variations inside the nozzle before and after the process. This paper also provides empirically-based correlations of the nozzle geometry changes due to the AFM process. The resulting impact of the process on the engine performance and emissions are also assessed with a DI Diesel engine test setup. This study shows that properly AFM-processed injectors can enhance engine performance and improve emissions due to the improved quality of the nozzle characteristics. However, an extended process can also cause enlargement of the nozzle hole as a side effect, which can adversely affect emissions. Emission measurements show the trade-off for the minimum levels as the process proceeds. Since the enlargement of the hole during the AFM process is not avoidable and must be minimized, strict control over the process is required. This control can be enforced by either limiting the AFM processing period, or by properly preparing the initial hole diameter so as to accommodate the inevitable changes in the nozzle geometry.     

Dynamic responses of a high-speed railway car due to wheel polygonalisation

The polygonal wear around the wheel circumference could pose highly adverse influences on the wheel/rail interactions and thereby the performance of the vehicle system. In this study, the effects of wheel polygonalisation on the dynamic responses of a high-speed rail vehicle are investigated through development and simulations of a comprehensive coupled vehicle/track dynamic model. The model integrates flexible slab track, wheelsets and axle boxes subsystem models so as to account for elastic deformations caused by impact loads induced by the wheel polygonalisation. A field-test programme was undertaken to acquire the polygonal wear profile and axle box acceleration response of a high-speed train, and the data are used to demonstrate the validity of the coupled vehicle/track system model. Subsequently, the effects of wheel polygonalisation are evaluated in terms of wheel/rail impact forces, axle box vertical acceleration and dynamic stress developed in the axle considering different amplitudes and harmonic orders of the polygonal wear. The results suggest that the high-order wheel polygonalisation can give rise to high-frequency impact loads at the wheel/rail interface, and excite some of the vibration modes of the wheelset and the axle box leading to high-magnitude axle box acceleration and dynamic stress in the wheelset axle.     

Comments on ‘the Kalker book of tables for non-Hertzian contact of wheel and rail’

The ‘simple double-elliptical contact’ (SDEC) approach by Piotrowski et al. [The Kalker book of tables for non-Hertzian contact of wheel and rail. Vehicle Syst Dyn. 2017;55:875–901] generates a-symmetrical contact patches in an elegant way. This allows to extend the table-based approach for the wheel–rail creep force calculation towards non-Hertzian contact geometry. This is an important line of research, because FASTSIM is intricate for non-Hertzian contacts, whereas CONTACT requires long calculation times.

Here, we comment on the further motivation that's provided for the approach. According to the authors, ‘the spin creepage generates longitudinal creep force in non-symmetric, non-elliptical contacts’, which is ‘completely lost’ when using elliptical regularisation. We demonstrate that this mainly depends on the choice of contact origin, and that the interaction is much reduced if different choices are made. This suggests that elliptical regularisation may be viable still, if the details are properly worked out. Furthermore, we introduce the spin center and the free-rolling position as means to extend the table-based approach towards more general non-Hertzian circumstances.     

保持交通运营扩宽Montedomini隧道:Nazzano工法的演化

在2000年初的Nazzano隧道(A1高速,毗邻罗马)扩宽工程中,首次尝试在不影响既有交通的情况下进行高速公路隧道的扩宽,而非更改线路或采用施工中降低隧道交通服务水平的方法。该工程证明了Nazzano工法的可行性和有效性,采用该工法最大限度地减少了土地占用量,在扩展干线公路、高速公路或铁路基础设施能力时,在建筑施工期间能够不降低其服务水平。由于其他方案(如开挖第3条隧道或在加宽车道处封闭交通)将增加更多的经济和社会成本,因而这种能够不干扰交通的隧道扩宽方案已成为投资方一种可靠有利的选择。     

An analysis on long term emission benefits of a government vehicle fleet replacement plan in northern illinois

There have been a number of studies of the effectiveness of vehicle scrappage programs, which offer incentives to accelerated scrappage of older vehicles often thought to be high emitters. These programs are voluntary and aimed at replacement of household vehicles. In contrast, there is a gap in knowledge related to the emissions benefits of government fleet replacement (retirement) programs. In this study, the efficacy of a fleet replacement program for a local government agency in Northern Illinois, the Forest Preserve of DuPage County (FPDC), is examined using a probabilistic vehicle survival model that accounts for time-varying covariates such as vehicle age and gasoline price. The vehicle lifetime operating emissions are calculated based on the estimated vehicle survival probabilities from the survival model and compared with those derived using the EPA default fleet used in MOBILE6 and the fleet represented by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) survival curve. The results suggest that while there may be short term emission benefits of the FPDC fleet replacement plan, the long-term emission benefits are highly sensitive to economic factors (e.g., future gasoline price) and exhibit a decreasing trend. This indicates that an adaptive multi-stage replacement strategy as opposed to a fixed one is preferable to achieve optimal cost effectiveness.

Behavior of the cell transmission model and effectiveness of ramp metering

The paper characterizes the behavior of the cell transmission model of a freeway, divided into N sections or cells, each with one on-ramp and one off-ramp. The state of the dynamical system is the N-dimensional vector n of vehicle densities in the N sections. A feasible stationary demand pattern induces a unique equilibrium flow in each section. However, there is an infinite set—in fact a continuum—of equilibrium states, including a unique uncongested equilibrium n^u in which free flow speed prevails in all sections, and a unique most congested equilibrium n^con. In every other equilibrium n^e one or more sections are congested, and n^u  n^e  n^con. Every equilibrium is stable and every trajectory converges to some equilibrium state.Two implications for ramp metering are explored. First, if the demand exceeds capacity and the ramps are not metered, every trajectory converges to the most congested equilibrium. Moreover, there is a ramp metering strategy that increases discharge flows and reduces total travel time compared with the no-metering strategy. Second, even when the demand is feasible but the freeway is initially congested, there is a ramp metering strategy that moves the system to the uncongested equilibrium and reduces total travel time. The two conclusions show that congestion invariably indicates wastefulness of freeway resources that ramp metering can eliminate.     

Potential benefits of an adaptive forward collision warning system

Forward collision warning (FCW) systems can reduce rear-end vehicle collisions. However, if the presentation of warnings is perceived as mistimed, trust in the system is diminished and drivers become less likely to respond appropriately. In this driving simulator investigation, 45 drivers experienced two FCW systems: a non-adaptive and an adaptive FCW that adjusted the timing of its alarms according to each individual driver’s reaction time. Whilst all drivers benefited in terms of improved safety from both FCW systems, non-aggressive drivers (low sensation seeking, long followers) did not display a preference to the adaptive FCW over its non-adaptive equivalent. Furthermore, there was little evidence to suggest that the non-aggressive drivers’ performance differed with either system. Benefits of the adaptive system were demonstrated for aggressive drivers (high sensation seeking, short followers). Even though both systems reduced their likelihood of a crash to a similar extent, the aggressive drivers rated each FCW more poorly than their non-aggressive contemporaries. However, this group, with their greater risk of involvement in rear-end collisions, reported a preference for the adaptive system as they found it less irritating and stress-inducing. Achieving greater acceptance and hence likely use of a real system is fundamental to good quality FCW design.     

High fidelity quasi steady-state aerodynamic model effects on race vehicle performance predictions using multi-body simulation

We described in this paper the development of a high fidelity vehicle aerodynamic model to fit wind tunnel test data over a wide range of vehicle orientations. We also present a comparison between the effects of this proposed model and a conventional quasi steady-state aerodynamic model on race vehicle simulation results. This is done by implementing both of these models independently in multi-body quasi steady-state simulations to determine the effects of the high fidelity aerodynamic model on race vehicle performance metrics. The quasi steady state vehicle simulation is developed with a multi-body NASCAR Truck vehicle model, and simulations are conducted for three different types of NASCAR race tracks, a short track, a one and a half mile intermediate track, and a higher speed, two mile intermediate race track. For each track simulation, the effects of the aerodynamic model on handling, maximum corner speed, and drive force metrics are analysed. The accuracy of the high-fidelity model is shown to reduce the aerodynamic model error relative to the conventional aerodynamic model, and the increased accuracy of the high fidelity aerodynamic model is found to have realisable effects on the performance metric predictions on the intermediate tracks resulting from the quasi steady-state simulation.     

Vehicle dynamics control by using a three-dimensional stabilizer pendulum system

Active safety systems of a vehicle normally work well on tyre–road interactions, however, these systems deteriorate in performance on low-friction road conditions. To combat this effect, an innovative idea for the yaw moment and roll dynamic control is presented in this paper. This idea was inspired by the chase and run dynamics animals like cheetahs in the nature; cheetahs have the ability to swerve while running at very high speeds. A cheetah controls its dynamics by rotating its long tail. A three-dimensional stabilizer pendulum system (3D-SPS) resembles the rotational motion of the tail of a cheetah to improve the stability and safety of a vehicle. The idea has been developed in a stand-alone 3D stabilizer pendulum system as well as in an integrated control system, which consists of an ordinary differential braking direct yaw control (DYC) and active steering control that is assisted by the 3D-SPS. The performance of the proposed 3D-SPS has been evaluated over a wide range of handling manoeuvres by using a comprehensive numerical simulation. The results show the advantage of 3D-SPS over conventional control approaches, which are ineffective on low-friction road conditions and high lateral acceleration manoeuvres. It should however be noted that the best vehicle dynamics performance is obtained when an integrated 3D-SPS and DYC and AFS is utilised.