Dynamic stride length adaptation according to utility and personal space

Pedestrians adjust both speed and stride length when they navigate difficult situations such as tight corners or dense crowds. They try to avoid collisions and to preserve their personal space. State-of-the-art pedestrian motion models automatically reduce speed in dense crowds simply because there is no space where the pedestrians could go. The stride length and its correct adaptation, however, are rarely considered. This leads to artefacts that impact macroscopic observation parameters such as densities in front of bottlenecks and, through this, flow. Hence modelling stride adaptation is important to increase the predictive power of pedestrian models. To achieve this we reformulate the problem as an optimisation problem on a disk around the pedestrian. Each pedestrian seeks the position that is most attractive in a sense of balanced goals between the search for targets, the need for individual space and the need to keep a distance from obstacles. The need for space is modelled according to findings from psychology defining zones around a person that, when invaded, cause unease. The result is a fully automatic adjustment that allows calibration through meaningful social parameters and that gives visually natural results with an excellent fit to measured experimental data.     

Socially optimal electric driving range of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

This study determines the optimal electric driving range of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) that minimizes the daily cost borne by the society when using this technology. An optimization framework is developed and applied to datasets representing the US market. Results indicate that the optimal range is 16 miles with an average social cost of $3.19 per day when exclusively charging at home, compared to $3.27 per day of driving a conventional vehicle. The optimal range is found to be sensitive to the cost of battery packs and the price of gasoline. When workplace charging is available, the optimal electric driving range surprisingly increases from 16 to 22 miles, as larger batteries would allow drivers to better take advantage of the charging opportunities to achieve longer electrified travel distances, yielding social cost savings. If workplace charging is available, the optimal density is to deploy a workplace charger for every 3.66 vehicles. Moreover, the diversification of the battery size, i.e., introducing a pair and triple of electric driving ranges to the market, could further decrease the average societal cost per PHEV by 7.45% and 11.5% respectively.     

A cost-competitiveness analysis of charging infrastructure for electric bus operations

This study investigates the cost competitiveness of different types of charging infrastructure, including charging stations, charging lanes (via charging-while-driving technologies) and battery swapping stations, in support of an electric public transit system. To this end, we first establish mathematical models to investigate the optimal deployment of various charging facilities along the transit line and determine the optimal size of the electric bus fleet, as well as their batteries, to minimize total infrastructure and fleet costs while guaranteeing service frequency and satisfying the charging needs of the transit system. We then conduct an empirical analysis utilizing available real-world data. The results suggest that: (1) the service frequency, circulation length, and operating speed of a transit system may have a great impact on the cost competitiveness of different charging infrastructure; (2) charging lanes enabled by currently available inductive wireless charging technology are cost competitive for most of the existing bus rapid transit corridors; (3) swapping stations can yield a lower total cost than charging lanes and charging stations for transit systems with high operating speed and low service frequency; (4) charging stations are cost competitive only for transit systems with very low service frequency and short circulation; and (5) the key to making charging lanes more competitive for transit systems with low service frequency and high operating speed is to reduce their unit-length construction cost or enhance their charging power.     

Local joint flexibility of tubular X-joints stiffened with external ring or external plates

In the present paper, the Local Joint Flexibility (LJF) of the ring-stiffened X-joints and plate-stiffened X-joints under compressive load is investigated. In the first phase, a finite element (FE) model was generated and verified with the results of available experimental tests and equations. In the next phase, a set number of 234 FE models were created to evaluate the role of the external ring size (β_r and τ_r), the external plate size (β_p and τ_p), and the connection geometry (γ, τ, and β) on the LJF factor (f_LJF). In these FE models, the weld connecting the chord and brace members was generated. The results indicated that the f_LJF of a plate stiffened joint can be down to 76% of the f_LJF of the corresponding un-stiffened joint. Also, the effect of the ring size on the f_LJF was more than the effect of the plate size on the f_LJF, because of the stiffener position. Despite the notable effect of the ring and the plate on the f_LJF, there is not any study or formula on tubular connections stiffened with ring or plate. Therefore, the FE results were used to propose two parametric formulas for determining the f_LJF in X-joints with external ring or external plate under brace compressive load. Moreover, the derived formulas were checked based on the UK DoE acceptance criteria.     

轨道安全监测中传感器优化配置研究

为了研究轨道结构安全监测中传感器的合理配置方法,确保城市轨道交通安全运营,通过建立桥上交叉渡线道岔模型和钢轨应变传递误差最小的目标函数,提出传感器测点选择依据和监测方案评价标准,保证监测方案的经济性、合理性。结论表明:模型数据曲线可以指导监测系统的测点位置选择;随着传感器测点数量增加,监测误差逐渐减小,但在误差比率的"拐点"后增加单位个数传感器带来的收益降低;通过建立误差最小准则的目标函数,结合误差指标可以评价和优化传感器布设方案;钢轨位移、附加力等指标的监测方案也可以通过本文方法确定。     

上海市道路隧道结构设计标准综述

通过调研和总结上海已建15座盾构隧道的设计资料,对现有隧道存在的病害进行了归类分析,提出了隧道病害的预防与治理措施;对明挖段的围护设计选型、结构工程规模和盾构隧道几何设计参数进行了统计分析,提出了明挖接线段围护结构选型及插入比的建议,明确了明挖结构的计算模型和计算参数;对已建盾构隧道的埋深、最小曲线半径、最小线间距、最大坡度等几何参数进行了详细分析,总结出了工作井平面尺寸的确定方法和盾构进出洞的关键技术。     

高速公路低路基设计探讨

从高速公路采用低路基设计的必要性、可行性及采取相应措施几方面进行探讨,从而达到节约土地资源这一关系整个国民经济发展和社会稳定的重大战略问题。     

现浇预应力混凝土连续箱梁桥设计

结合某主线上一座2×30 m现浇连续预应力混凝土葙梁桥的工程实例,较详尽的介绍了该桥的设计和构造特点、上部结构计算及上下部构造设计,并结合实际针对设计时应考虑的一些因素进行了较详细的探讨.     

浅谈工程设计对公路建设投资的影响和相应对策

通过工程设计对公路建设投资影响的分析,阐明了工程设计是影响建设投资的主要因素之一,并通过实例证明了合理选择设计方案和采用技术标准等办法是控制投资的一条有效途径,而合理选择设计方案和技术标准又受到各种因素的影响和限制,对影响合理选择设计方案的原因进行了具体分析,并就此提出了几点相应对策,供同行们参考.