Career development for women in maritime industry: organisation and socialisation perspectives

For centuries, the maritime industry has been a recognised place in society dominated solely by men, and even though there were women involved, they were mostly on the periphery. This research aims to fill the gap of women’s career development in this field, by investigating the relationships among the degree of organisational socialisation, women’s workplace culture, and the career development of women in the maritime workplace. The analyses are conducted with the structural equation model with 202 valid questionnaires. The results indicated that women’s workplace culture has a significantly negative relationship with the degree of organisational socialisation, and then in turn, it has a significantly positive relationship with women’s career development in the maritime industry. Finally, the results also indicate that the mediating effect of organisational socialisation existed between women’s workplace culture and women’s career development. According to the empirical analysis, this study makes conclusions as well as suggestions for the maritime enterprises as the reference for human resource management.     

汉巴南铁路兰渝联络线电分相设置方案研究

联络线电分相设置方案影响因素众多,且其设置与否对工程和运营的影响也较大。本文对汉巴南铁路兰渝联络线电分相设置方案进行研究,提出高速铁路设置关节式电分相联络线最短长度;对联络线电分相不同设置方案进行比选研究,并结合各方案的土建工程、信号系统、供电系统及限制因素提出布局优化措施,以期为联络线电分相合理设置与优化布局提供新思路。     

桥梁转体施工自闭合式合龙钢壳系统及施工技术研究

为进一步减小转体施工桥梁合龙施工时对既有运营线路的干扰,同时解决传统钢壳法中加劲肋板对合龙段施工的影响,以首座采用墩中转体的大树村龙川江三线大桥为依托,在传统钢壳法的基础上进行优化研究,自行研制、设计了一套自闭合式合龙钢壳系统并应用于实践,最终达到了安全、优质、快速、有序合龙的目的。实践结果表明,自闭合式合龙钢壳系统能够满足施工要求,且使用效果良好,达到了优化施工的目的,可为类似桥梁合龙施工提供参考。     

Integrating capacity analysis with high-speed railway timetabling: A minimum cycle time calculation model with flexible overtaking constraints and intelligent enumeration

Compared with most optimization methods for capacity evaluation, integrating capacity analysis with timetabling can reveal the types of train line plans and operating rules that have a positive influence on improving capacity utilization as well as yielding more accurate analyses. For most capacity analyses and cyclic timetabling methods, the cycle time is a constant (e.g., one or two hours). In this paper, we propose a minimum cycle time calculation (MCTC) model based on the periodic event scheduling problem (PESP) for a given train line plan, which is promising for macroscopic train timetabling and capacity analysis. In accordance with train operating rules, a non-collision constraint and a series of flexible overtaking constraints (FOCs) are constructed based on variations of the original binary variables in the PESP. Because of the complexity of the PESP, an iterative approximation (IA) method for integration with the CPLEX solver is proposed. Finally, two hypothetical cases are considered to analyze railway capacity, and several influencing factors are studied, including train regularity, train speed, line plan specifications (train stops), overtaking and train heterogeneity. The MCTC model and IA method are used to test a real-world case involving the timetable of the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway in China.     

Balancing energy consumption and risk of delay in high speed trains: A three-objective real-time eco-driving algorithm with fuzzy parameters

Eco-driving is an energy efficient traffic operation measure that may lead to important energy savings in high speed railway lines. When a delay arises in real time, it is necessary to recalculate an optimal driving that must be energy efficient and computationally efficient.In addition, it is important that the algorithm includes the existing uncertainty associated with the manual execution of the driving parameters and with the possible future traffic disturbances that could lead to new delays.This paper proposes a new algorithm to be executed in real time, which models the uncertainty in manual driving by means of fuzzy numbers. It is a multi-objective optimization algorithm that includes the classical objectives in literature, running time and energy consumption, and as well a newly defined objective, the risk of delay in arrival. The risk of delay in arrival measure is based on the evolution of the time margin of the train up to destination.The proposed approach is a dynamic algorithm designed to improve the computational time. The optimal Pareto front is continuously tracked during the train travel, and a new set of driving commands is selected and presented to the driver when a delay is detected.The algorithm evaluates the 3 objectives of each solution using a detailed simulator of high speed trains to ensure that solutions are realistic, accurate and applicable by the driver. The use of this algorithm provides energy savings and, in addition, it permits railway operators to balance energy consumption and risk of delays in arrival. This way, the energy performance of the system is improved without degrading the quality of the service.     

Validation of an extended discrete first-order model with variable speed limits

This paper validates the prediction model embedded in a model predictive controller (MPC) of variable speed limits (VSLs). The MPC controller was designed based on an extended discrete first-order model with a triangular fundamental diagram. In our previous work, the extended discrete first-order model was designed to reproduce the capacity drop and the propagation of jam waves, and it was validated with reasonable accuracy without the presence of VSLs. As VSLs influence traffic dynamics, the dynamics including VSLs needs to be validated, before it can be applied as a prediction model in MPC. For conceptual illustrations, we use two synthetic examples to show how the model reproduces the key mechanisms of VSLs that are applied by existing VSL control approaches. Furthermore, the model is calibrated by use of real traffic data from Dutch freeway A12, where the field test of a speed limit control algorithm (SPECIALIST) was conducted. In the calibration, the original model is extended by using a quadrangular fundamental diagram which keeps the linear feature of the model and represents traffic states at the under-critical branch more accurately. The resulting model is validated using various traffic data sets. The accuracy of the model is compared with a second-order traffic flow model. The performance of two models is comparable: both models reproduce accurate results matching with real data. Flow errors of the calibration and validation are around 10%. The extended discrete first-order model-based MPC controller has been demonstrated to resolve freeway jam waves efficiently by synthetic cases. It has a higher computation speed comparing to the second-order model-based MPC.     

铁路货物追踪系统的构建

铁路货物运输组织是铁路工作的一个核心内容,铁路货物追踪系统的设计与实现能够为货主提供更好、更快的服务,同时加快和保障铁路货运工作的组织。通过对铁路整车货物运输的流程分析,制定货物追踪系统的目标,分析系统功能。通过数据的采集和信息共享平台的建立,提出货物追踪系统的实现途径。     

LED灯具在高速列车照明系统中的应用

随着我国高速铁路事业的发展,旅客对车内照明环境品质的要求越来越高,在我国高速列车照明设计中广泛采用LED灯具作为光源。通过对高速动车组车载灯具与25T型列车传统车载灯具的测试对比,总结出LED灯具在发光效率等方面相对于传统灯具的优势,为高速动车组室内照明设计提供依据。     

Integrated vehicle and powertrain optimization for passenger vehicles with vehicle-infrastructure communication

This research proposes an optimal controller to improve fuel efficiency for a vehicle equipped with automatic transmission traveling on rolling terrain without the presence of a close preceding vehicle. Vehicle acceleration and transmission gear position are optimized simultaneously to achieve a better fuel efficiency. This research leverages the emerging Connected Vehicle technology and utilizes present and future information—such as real-time dynamic speed limit, vehicle speed, location and road topography—as optimization input. The optimal control is obtained using the Relaxed Pontryagin’s Minimum Principle. The benefit of the proposed optimal controller is significant compared to the regular cruise control and other eco-drive systems. It varies with the hill length, grade, and the number of available gear positions. It ranges from an increased fuel saving of 18–28% for vehicles with four-speed transmission and 25–45% for vehicles with six-speed transmission. The computational time for the optimization is 1.0–2.1 s for the four-speed vehicle and 1.8–3.9 s for the six-speed vehicle, given a 50 s optimization time horizon and 0.1 s time step. The proposed controller can potentially be used in real-time.     

Point-to-point speed enforcement systems: Speed limits design criteria and analysis of drivers’ compliance

Point-to-point (P2P) speed enforcement is a relatively new approach to traffic law enforcement. Its technology allows vehicles whose average speed exceeds the speed limit over the controlled section to be fined. It therefore encourages compliance over distances longer than those where spot enforcement policies have been in place.In this paper, a procedure for consistently setting speed limits with such enforcement systems is proposed. Such a method has been applied to design the speed limits on two motorways in the district of Naples, Italy, where P2P enforcement systems became operational in 2009 and 2010. The speed limits, which were set using the Italian geometric design standard to assess vehicle stability and stopping sight distance, have been compared with those provided by using well-known international standards.The impact of the newly designed speed limits and of the P2P enforcement system on drivers’ speeding behaviour has been quantified for each highway section and vehicle type. In fact, accurate measurements of the average travel speeds of each vehicle crossing the enforced sections, before and after the activation of the system, were available. The migration from the old speed limits with spot speed enforcement to the new approach resulted in a notable increase in drivers’ compliance to the speed limits with a remarkable decrease in both the average of individual speeds and in their standard deviation.In addition, the analysis of 3 years of data shows that a gradual adaptation of drivers’ behaviour to the system took place. In particular, a decreasing compliance to the speed limits points to a non-optimal system management. Finally, the results of a revealed preference survey allowed us to make a behavioural interpretation regarding the significantly different impacts measured on the two motorways.