The effects of added transportation capacity on travel: a review of theoretical and empirical results

(Added to the original text) A fundamental solution to the issue of congestion cannot be reached without addressing the question of life-style. This paper reviews the definitions of life-style found in the literature, and identifies variables that have been commonly associated with life-style. Using US consumer expenditure data, life-styles are analyzed longitudinally (examining trends during the 1953–1983 time frame) and cross-sectionally (comparing segments of the population stratified by income, life-cycle stage, and age), and likely relationships to travel behavior are noted. The usefulness of existing empirical findings to long-range forecasting is explored by speculating on shifts of behavioral units across life-style segments, and on shifts in the behavioral patterns within each life-style segment.     

Optical device for measuring the injectors opening in common rail systems

Since the needle displacement exerts a fundamental influence on the operation of Common Rail injection systems, accurate measurements of the control piston position can be crucial for a more thorough analysis of the behaviour of injectors, in particular when multiple injections are employed. Eddy current sensors have traditionally been used in lab activities to measure the control piston position inside injectors; apart from the high cost, the scientific literature clearly shows their inadequacy, which is mainly due to the presence of electromagnetic disturbance: the current pulse, which controls the opening of the injector, generates electromagnetic fields which strongly affect the acquisition of data. Many attempts have recently been made either to solve the interference occurring during such measurements or to propose alternative displacement transducers whose operation is not influenced by electromagnetic interference. In this paper, a new device for measuring the injector opening is proposed: it is an optical transducer characterized both by simple and very cheap construction and by a reliable physical principle for measuring the control piston lift. The reliability of the proposed sensor is assessed by a thorough experimental campaign and by comparing the experimental results with the numerical predictions achieved by a Common Rail injector model. Since the assembly of the optical sensor does not affect the injector operation, it can efficiently be used both for experimental tests and for on-board diagnosis and monitoring of the injector operation.     

Method of estimating human error probabilities in construction for structural reliability analysis based on analytic hierarchy process and failure likelihood index method

Partial safety factors must be evaluated precisely for the given target reliability index to ensure the certain level of structural reliability due to uncertain factors. The current studies of partial safety factors do not consider human error in construction for structural reliability. A mathematically model should be improved to simulate the partial safety coefficient concerned uncertainty factors which concern the effect of human error in construction. We employ the contaminated distribution to obtain the realistic mean value and standard variance of variable of structural parameters which coexist with random error human error. The reasonable partial safety coefficient can be calculated based on the realistic value of structural parameters concerned the effects of random error and gross error.     

Public sector comparators for UK PFI roads: inside the black box

A public sector comparator (PSC) represents the hypothetical, risk-adjusted cost of a project—such as a road scheme—when that project is financed, owned and implemented by government. A PSC is commonly used in public procurement decision-making as a yardstick against which private investment proposals are evaluated. Using original material released by the UK Highways Agency for the first time, the author recreated the PSCs used for the evaluation of the first eight road projects to be promoted under the UK’s private finance initiative (PFI). Alternative assumptions regarding project risks were modelled using different levels of optimism-bias uplift, and the impact on value-for-money of using different discount rates was evaluated. Public sector comparators have attracted considerable attention in the literature as they retain a pivotal role in the policy decision to use—or not use—private finance. However the fact that their detail is usually kept confidential by public sector procuring agencies—because of commercial sensitivities—has restricted informed discussion and open debate. Now the architecture of these comparators is laid bare for critical examination. It has generally been assumed that any reduction in the discount rate used in PSC calculations will favour conventional procurement over PFI-type contracting arrangements. The research reported in this paper demonstrates that the relationship between the discount rate and the attractiveness of using private finance is not as simple as has been assumed, and the outcome in terms of value-for-money is not as predictable as has previously been reported.     

Gain-scheduled EGR control algorithm for light-duty diesel engines with static-gain parameter modeling

This paper presents a model-based gain scheduling algorithm of a PI-based EGR controller for light-duty diesel engines. In order to capture nonlinear characteristic of the EGR system, we have proposed a new scheduling variable to illustrate the static-gain of the plant model as a linear function. The proposed scheduling variable is composed of the air-tofuel ratio of the exhaust gas and the pressure ratio between the exhaust and intake manifolds. Using the scheduling variable, a static-gain model achieved 0.94 of the R-squared value with 810 of steady-state measurements which include key engine operating conditions. Based on the model of the static-gain parameter, the gains of the PI controller are decided by Skogestad internal model control (SIMC) tuning rule in real-time. Through various scenarios of engine experiments, the proposed gain scheduling algorithm represented that the PI gains were successfully adapted according to the changes of the engine operating conditions.     

Property protection,financial constraints and economic growth

The relationship between financial system, law framework or economic growth has attracted considerable attention for years. However, there are some questions still remaining unanswered: between tangible assets protection and intellectual property protection, which is more important? Between external financing and property rights protection, which does play a greater role for the economic development? According to the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium(DSGE) model with non-free market factors, we study the effectiveness of property protection and external financing, and try to answer these questions. The model fits the data well, and we find:(1) protection of intellectual property plays a more important role than that of tangible asset, in the promotion of economy;(2) relaxation of financial constraints on corporate is more effective in the short run, while the protection of intellectual property is more effectual in the long term.     

Fuel Property Effects on Liquid and Vapor Penetrations of Evaporating Sprays

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of fuel properties on liquid and vapor penetrations in evaporating spray systems. A recently developed model, which can simultaneously account for the finite thermal conductivity, finite mass diffusivity and turbulence effects within atomizing multi-component liquid fuel sprays, is utilized for the numerical predictions. Two different multi-component fuels with different boiling temperatures, densities and other thermal properties are implemented in the KIVA-3V computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code to study the evaporation behaviors. A six-component surrogate fuel is used to emulate the relevant volatility property of the real diesel fuel, and a second bi-component fuel is chosen to represent a low boiling-temperature fuel. The numerical results are compared with the experimental data, and the representative results are obtained. For a lower density and lower boiling temperature fuel, the liquid penetration length is shorter. However, the vapor penetration lengths are not affected by the fuel type in terms of fuel volatility. Available experimental data are used for validation and appraisal of the multi-component evaporation model.     

Flame propagation model for a rotary Atkinson cycle SI engine

The rotary Atkinson cycle engine includes two modes of combustion: combustion initiation and propagation in ignition chamber and then flame jet entrainment and propagation in expansion chamber. The turbulent flame propagation model is a predictive model for SI engines which could be developed for this type of combustion for the rotary Atkinson engine similar to the congenital engine with pre-chamber; in split combustion chamber SI engines, small amount of fuel is burned in pre-chamber while the fuel burned in ignition chamber of rotary Atkinson cycle is considerable. In this study a mathematical modeling of spherical flame propagation inside ignition chamber and new combined conical flame and spherical flame propagation model of a new two-stroke Atkinson cycle SI engine will be presented. The mathematical modeling is carried out using two-zone combustion analysis and the model also is validated against experimental tests and compared with previous study using non-predictive Weibe function model.     

DC Motor Current Control Algorithm Using Proportional-Integral LQT with Disturbance Observer

This paper proposes a DC motor current control algorithm using a proportional-integral linear quadratic tracking (LQT) controller with a disturbance observer for the electronic stability control (ESC) brake system. Previously researched algorithms related to current control using disturbance rejection are robust control, adaptive control, LQT, or proportional-integral disturbance observer (PI-DOB); each of them has both advantages and disadvantages. The proposed algorithm uses a disturbance observer in order to improve disturbance rejection performance while avoiding the drawbacks of high gain property. Additionally, the proposed algorithm adds integral control in order to improve performance in the low frequency bands. In order to assess the performance of the proposed algorithm, simulations and experiments are performed in the time and frequency domains to compare the proposed algorithm with different algorithms which are actually implemented into the ESC. The proposed algorithm shows good characteristics near the cut-off frequency, which can be confirmed clearly by the time domain results.     

Electrically Assisted Internal Combustion Engines: A Comparative Analysis

An electrically assisted internal combustion engine is obtained by combining a conventional engine and one or more electrical motors of considerably smaller size. A key feature of such an innovative vehicle hybridization approach is that the torque generated by electric machines is not transmitted to the wheels. The electric motors are, in fact, intended only to assist the internal combustion engine in low efficiency, low performance, or high polluting working conditions. They however, draw extra power and energy from the battery. This paper presents a tool to evaluate different possible solutions in terms of energy balance, efficiency, battery stress and battery ageing. The method, which is based on suitable mathematical models and specific analysis criteria is also exploited to compare eight different configurations of a C-segment vehicle, pointing out limits and capabilities of traditional 12?14 V systems.