Improving maritime inventory routing: application to a Brazilian petroleum case

The crude oil offloading and supply problem (COSP) is a type of operation maritime inventory routing (MIR) problem encountered by petroleum companies. In COSP, the company not only is responsible for the ship scheduling to carry the crude oil from production sites to discharge ports but also must maintain inventory levels at both ports (production and consumption) between safety operational bounds to avoid disruptions in its crude oil production and/or refining processes. We show how to improve significantly the decision-making process in a Brazilian petroleum company using a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model to represent COSP. Comparison tests with a current ship-scheduling method adopted in the company indicated that the use of the MILP model increased the transportation efficiency and reduced costs by 20% on average. In addition to the quantitative gains, the use of a MILP model to solve COSP has succeeded when encountering real-life events, such as variation in production or consumption rates, berth unavailability, and changes in the storage capacities at ports.     

Energy-aware control for automated container terminals using integrated flow shop scheduling and optimal control

The performance of container terminals needs to be improved to handle the growth of transported containers and maintain port sustainability. This paper provides a methodology for improving the handling capacity of an automated container terminal in an energy-efficient way. The behavior of a container terminal is considered as consisting of a higher level and a lower level represented by discrete-event dynamics and continuous-time dynamics, respectively. These dynamics represent the behavior of a large number of terminal equipment. The dynamics need to be controlled. For controlling the higher level dynamics, a minimal makespan problem is solved. For this, the minimal time required by equipment for performing an operation at the lower level is needed. The minimal time for performing an operation at the lower level is obtained using Pontryagin’s Minimum Principle. The actual operation time allowed by the higher level for processing an operation at the lower level is subsequently determined by a scheduling algorithm at the higher level. Given an actual operation time, the lower level dynamics are controlled using optimal control to achieve minimal energy consumption while respecting the time constraint. Simulation studies illustrate how energy-efficient management of equipment for the minimal makespan could be obtained using the proposed methodology.     

Multi-objective optimization of train routing problem combined with train scheduling on a high-speed railway network

Based on train scheduling, this paper puts forward a multi-objective optimization model for train routing on high-speed railway network, which can offer an important reference for train plan to provide a better service. The model does not only consider the average travel time of trains, but also take the energy consumption and the user satisfaction into account. Based on this model, an improved GA is designed to solve the train routing problem. The simulation results demonstrate that the accurate algorithm is suitable for a small-scale network, while the improved genetic algorithm based on train control (GATC) applies to a large-scale network. Finally, a sensitivity analysis of the parameters is performed to obtain the ideal parameters; a perturbation analysis shows that the proposed method can quickly handle the train disturbance.     

Innovative systems for the transportation disadvantaged: Toward more efficient and operationally usable planning tools

When considering innovative forms of public transport for specific groups, such as demand responsive services, the challenge is to find a good balance between operational efficiency and 'user friendliness' of the scheduling algorithm even when specialized skills are not available. Regret insertion-based processes have shown their effectiveness in addressing this specific concern. We introduce a new class of hybrid regret measures to understand better why the behaviour of this kind of heuristic is superior to that of other insertion rules. Our analyses show the importance of keeping a good balance between short- and long-term strategies during the solution process. We also use this methodology to investigate the relationship between the number of vehicles needed and total distance covered - the key point of any cost analysis striving for greater efficiency. Against expectations, in most cases decreasing fleet size leads to savings in vehicle mileage, since the heuristic solution is still far from optimality.     

基于非集计与弹性联合模型的交通需求分析

随着我国交通事业的蓬勃发展,人们对交通方式的需求正在不断发生变化。基于科学研究的交叉性和外延性,将不同研究领域已经基本成熟的模型,即微观经济学中的费用效益弹性理论模型和交通方式分布中的非集计模型(Logit模型)有机地结合并融为一体,得到一种联合模型,使其更容易将数据定量化、具体化。通过这个联合模型来分析交通需求并将与交通需求相关的因素进行对比,得出交通因素发生变化对交通需求者和供给者的影响。     

桥面防水材料的应用

总结了国内外桥面防水材料的研究和应用历史,并对目前国内广泛应用的几种柔性桥面防水材料的适用条件和优缺点进行了分析。     

大粒径沥青混合料基层施工压实控制研究

结合沪蓉西高速公路宜长试验段采用大粒径沥青混合料(LSAM)作为柔性基层的实例,采用核子密度仪进行施工压实度跟踪检测。检测结果表明:胶轮压路机对LSAM压实度的提高作用不明显;LSAM-30一次性铺筑13.5cm仍能保证其具有较好的压实性能;核子密度仪测得LSAM压实度有较高水平且有减小趋势时,应立即停止碾压。另外,对LSAM压实度"超百"现象进行了研究,指出对于LSAM基于旋转压实仪的标准密度能更好地指导现场施工。     

冷再生沥青混合料性能评价

从基层材料的功能要求出发,评价了乳化沥青冷再生混合料的高温性能、劈裂强度和水稳定,从而论证冷再生沥青混合料用作高速公路沥青路面基层材料的可行性。通过马歇尔稳定度试验和劈裂强度试验评价了冷再生混合料的强度性能,确定了混合料的最佳沥青用量;用车辙试验检验了再生混合料的高温稳定性;用冻融劈裂试验评价了再生混合料的水稳定性。研究发现,冷再生混合料的最佳沥青用量为(纯沥青油石比)2.5%;最佳油石比下,冷再生混合料车辙动稳定度均大于3000次/mm,冻融劈裂残余劈裂强度比为97.39%。结果表明,所设计的冷再生混合料具有较高的力学强度,优良的高温性能和水稳定性,能够用于铺筑高速公路沥青路面基层。     

缅甸曼德勒大桥钢梁合龙技术

缅甸曼德勒大桥结构为刚性拱柔性梁,施工时先合龙边拱后合龙中拱。根据钢梁的结构、施工条件和自然环境特点,制定科学、经济、可靠的施工技术,在不施加外力的情况下,仅通过调整三向位移实现钢梁合龙的零误差。介绍该桥钢梁合龙技术。     

柔性基础下刚性桩复合地基的工作性状

采用数值方法,考虑复合地基、垫层和基础之间的共同作用,对柔性基础下刚性桩复合地基桩侧摩阻力、桩身轴向应力、桩端刺入变形等工作性状进行了研究;讨论了基础弹性模量、基础高度、基础宽度、桩体弹性模量、置换率、土体弹性模量等因素对复合地基工作性状的影响;最后通过归一化分析提出了可反映基础相对刚度的量纲一的参数K,并讨论了不同基础相对刚度下桩端上刺变形的变化趋势。结果表明:基础弹性模量并不是区分柔性基础与刚性基础的惟一指标,采用"基础相对刚度"的概念比仅考虑基础自身刚度的概念更具有合理性。