An exploration of the importance of social influence in the decision to start bicycling in England

The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding, through qualitative exploration, of the ways in which social influence affects the decision to start bicycling in England. ‘Social influence’ is defined as the process by which an individual’s thoughts and actions are changed by the thoughts and action of others. Its role was investigated at three levels: the immediate family, household members and significant others (direct social influence); the extended family, friends, peers and colleagues (less direct social influence); and the wider cultural context (indirect social influence). Interviews with 61 individuals living in 12 towns and cities across England were analysed. Half of the interviewees were new regular bicyclists and the other half did not bicycle at all, or only occasionally. Social influence was found to be the dominant factor for a minority of the cases where participants started bicycling regularly. It played a role alongside other factors in other cases. It could take the form of direct influence from family, friends and peers or indirect influence from the social and cultural context. The analysis illustrates the difficulty of capturing social influence which is often hidden and emerges incidentally in the course of the interviews and interacts with other contributing factors. The role of social influence found in this research challenges the rational approach to explaining travel decision making that has traditionally dominated transport studies. The paper suggests that social processes could be harnessed to improve the efficacy of bicycling promotion programs.     

Comparative analysis of the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of 40 electric,plug-in hybrid electric,hybrid electric and internal combustion engine vehicles

This paper analyses the results of the Royal Automobile Clubhallo’s 2011 RAC Future Car Challenge, an annual motoring challenge in which participants seek to consume the least energy possible while driving a 92 km route from Brighton to London in the UK. The results reveal that the vehicle’s power train type has the largest impact on energy consumption and emissions. The traction ratio, defined as the fraction of time spent on the accelerator in relation to the driving time, and the amount of regenerative braking have a significant effect on the individual energy consumption of vehicles. In contrast, the average speed does not have a great effect on a vehicles’ energy consumption in the range 25–70 km/h.     

饱水裂隙破坏模式及影响因素理论分析

深长岩溶隧道掘进过程中掌子面和隧道两侧壁将出现大量裂隙,裂隙在远场应力与水压力的共同作用下将发生扩张膨胀,使得通过裂隙的水流量增大并最终导致隧道发生大范围的突水突泥事件。受水压致裂技术的影响,一般认为裂隙内部水流作用的机制是由水力劈裂和水压扩径造成的。基于断裂力学和流体力学,在平面受力情况下求解含水裂隙发生劈裂破坏和压剪破坏所需的临界水压值,并将两者进行比较后发现,同一裂隙发生水力劈裂破坏所需的临界水压大于其发生压剪破坏所需的临界水压,得出压剪破坏是含水裂隙破坏的主要形式。     

Driver models in automobile dynamics application

Understanding the driver of an automobile has been attractive to researchers from many different disciplines for more than half a century. On the basis of their acquirements, models of the (human) driver have been developed to better understand, analyse and improve the combined couple of driver and automobile. Due to distinctive demands on the models in accordance with different kinds of applications, a variety of driver models is available. An overview of driver models is given with respect to their application and different methodical modelling approaches. The emphasis is put on the interest of engineers, who generally focus on the automobile (like design and optimization of vehicle components and the overall vehicle dynamics behaviour) by applying their approved (mathematical) methods. Nonetheless, a brief look beyond is added to better complete the view on the involved task of driving and driver modelling for automobile dynamics application.     

冻融条件下盐渍土抗剪强度特性试验研究

通过对新疆岳普湖~英吉沙公路及和硕~库尔勒高速公路沿线的天然盐渍土室内基本性质试验分析,选取典型天然盐渍土,在开放系统中进行反复冻融循环条件下的试验,从土类角度研究了天然盐渍土在多次冻融循环时的强度变化特征。试验结果表明:经多次冻融循环,低液限粘土试样粘聚力自下而上线性减小,内摩擦角呈S形分布;含砂低液限粘土试样冻融循环过程中,试样粘聚力呈反S形分布,内摩擦角均呈S形分布;低液限粉土试样各层土粘聚力随着冻融循环次数的增加逐渐减小,各土层内摩擦角随着冻融循环次数的增加而减小。     

梁腹板开孔后的横向极限承载能力分析

针对船体结构中强横梁腹板因铺设管道电缆等而开孔的现象,采用非线性有限元计算方法,对梁腹板开孔后的极限承载能力进行研究。以一受横向均布载荷的甲板强横梁为例,分析腹板开孔梁破坏的模式及原因,得到腹板开孔位置、尺寸及形状对梁极限承载能力的影响。并基于有限元数值解算结果,提出腹板开腰圆孔梁的极限承载能力预报公式,其与数值计算结果吻合较好,可为腹板开孔梁的设计提供参考。     

S2/430LV复合材料拉-剪疲劳材料许用值试验

面内纵横剪切强度是衡量复合材料层合板强度特性的重要指标之一,而S2/430LV复合材料是目前较为常用的一种典型舰用复合材料体系。首先,依据规范GB/T 3355-2005开展±45°面内拉-剪强度试验研究,测试结果表明,在拉-剪载荷作用下,S2/430LV复合材料的载荷/位移曲线存在两阶段和弧形过渡区特征。取初始损伤后的线性段与弧形段的切点为剪切强度的基准点(对应剪切强度为τ_B),分别选取不同折减系数下的载荷值来开展拉-剪疲劳特性、疲劳承载后剩余刚度和强度试验研究。结果表明:计及机械疲劳承载时,S2/430LV复合材料面内剪切强度材料许用值的折减系数可取为0.75。该结论对舰艇复合材料结构可靠性设计与分析具有重要的参考意义。     

高强钢-混凝土组合梁受力性能分析

为研究高强钢-混凝土组合梁中结构几何参数及材料强度对组合梁受力性能的影响, 建立了14组构件在跨中两点对称荷载作用下的有限元数值模型, 对其受力性能进行了分析。分析结果表明: 在承载能力极限状态下, 钢梁的贡献占竖向抗剪强度约77.0%;在弹性与塑性阶段, 不同材料强度的组合梁的跨中最小与最大挠度比值分别为79.5%和28.0%;在塑性状态下, 不同混凝土板横向配筋率和宽度的组合梁的跨中最小与最大挠度比值分别为62.1%和53.3%, 不同材料强度、混凝土板宽度、横向配筋率和厚度的组合梁的最小与最大纵向滑移量比值分别为25.0%、41.9%、63.2%、70.7%。可见, 提高钢梁强度或增大钢梁尺寸可显著提高组合梁竖向抗剪能力; 材料强度对组合梁弹性工作阶段的跨中挠度影响较小, 混凝土板横向配筋率及其宽度对塑性状态下跨中挠度有较大影响; 弹性工作阶段材料与几何参数对组合面滑移的影响不明显, 塑性状态下材料强度、混凝土板宽度、横向配筋率及厚度对纵向滑移影响较大。     

膨胀土的强度与力学特性

通过三轴试验与侧限压缩试验, 研究了膨胀土的强度、超固结性和压缩指标; 建立了胀缩指标与抗剪强度的关系, 分析了膨胀土的结构特征、矿物成分及外界条件等因素对其变形和强度的影响。研究结果表明: 膨胀土具有超固结性, 且超固结性越明显, 从峰值强度达到稳定强度状态时所需的变形越大, 抗剪强度也越大; 裂隙越发育, 其压缩性越高, 超固结性越弱, 抗剪强度指标越小。给出了膨胀土抗剪强度指标的变化范围: 固结排水条件下的粘聚力变化范围为19.8~25.5 kPa, 内摩擦角变化范围为10°~19°; 固结不排水条件下的粘聚力变化范围为23.0~35.3 kPa, 内摩擦角变化范围为3°~14°; 不固结不排水条件下的粘聚力变化范围为37.0~55.0 kPa, 内摩擦角为0°。     

波形钢腹板剪切屈曲分析

波形钢腹板组合箱梁最显著的受力特点是:混凝土顶底板抗弯,波形钢腹板抗剪。该文介绍了美国Hamilton教授的剪切屈曲试验情况,并对试验梁进行了弹塑性局部屈曲和整体屈曲有限元分析;采用小挠度线性理论,将局部屈曲和整体屈曲板件分别比拟成四边受剪的矩形板和正交异性板,推导了各自的临界剪应力计算公式。理论分析值与试验结果、空间有限元计算值吻合较好,说明该文的理论公式可以在设计中应用。