A conceptualization of vehicle platoons and platoon operations

Vehicle platooning, a coordinated movement strategy, has been proposed to address a range of current transport challenges such as traffic congestion, road safety, energy consumption and pollution. But in order to form platoons in an ad-hoc manner the vehicles have to ‘speak the same language’, which is in current practice limited to vehicles of particular manufacturers. There is no standard language yet. Also in research, while the current literature focuses on platoon control strategies, intra-platoon communication, or platooning impacts on traffic, the conceptualization of platooning objects and their operations remained unattended. This paper aims to fill this fundamental gap by developing a formal model of platooning concepts. The paper proposes an ontological model of platooning objects and properties and abstract basic building blocks of platoon operations that can then be aggregated to complex platooning behavior. The presented ontological model provides the logical reasoning to support vital decision-making during platoon lifecycles. The ontological model is implemented and demonstrated.     

The impact of road grade on carbon dioxide (CO2) emission of a passenger vehicle in real-world driving

To accurately estimate real-world vehicle emission at 1 Hz the road grade for each second of data must be quantified. Failure to incorporate road grade can result in over or underestimation of a vehicle’s power output and hence cause inaccuracy in the instantaneous emission estimate. This study proposes a simple LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) – GIS (Geographic Information System) road grade estimation methodology, using GIS software to interpolate the elevation for each second of data from a Digital Terrain Map (DTM). On-road carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from a passenger car were recorded by Portable Emission Measurement System (PEMS) over 48 test laps through an urban-traffic network. The test lap was divided into 8 sections for micro-scale analysis. The PHEM instantaneous emission model (Hausberger, 2003) was employed to estimate the total CO₂ emission through each lap and section. The addition of the LiDAR-GIS road grade to the PHEM modelling improved the accuracy of the CO₂ emission predictions. The average PHEM estimate (with road grade) of the PEMS measured section total CO₂ emission (n = 288) was 93%, with 90% of the PHEM estimates between 80% and 110% of the PEMS recorded value. The research suggests that instantaneous emission modelling with LiDAR-GIS calculated road grade is a viable method for generating accurate real-world micro-scale CO₂ emission estimates. The sensitivity of the CO₂ emission predictions to road grade was also tested by lessening and exaggerating the gradient profiles, and demonstrates that assuming a flat profile could cause considerable error in real-world CO₂ emission estimation.     

Influence of housing development designs on household vehicle miles traveled: A case of Iskandar Malaysia

Demand for housing in Malaysia grew noticeably in 1960s and expanded rapidly in the late 1980s and beyond as a result of rapid urbanization. The same scenario repeats itself in Iskandar Malaysia, a southern development corridor located in Johor, Malaysia where close to three hundred housing developments have been launched from pre-1980s to 2000s. These housing developments are believed to have undergone a layout design evolution affecting land use distribution, road network design, density and many other neighborhood metrics. Thus, this study investigates the impact of housing development designs on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) as they evolve over the decades. Evolution in layout design is discussed in terms of the 4Ds of urban form factors: density, diversity, design (street connectivity and intersection density) and destination accessibility (proximity). Twenty four housing areas developed within decades of pre-1980s to the 2000s were selected and travel diaries of their randomly selected households were recorded. The results obtained show that urban form and demographic factors explain almost 87% of the variances in household VMT and the three main design factors influencing VMT are housing density, proximity index (destination accessibility) and diversity index. The findings of the study show that there is a decreasing trend in density, (land use) diversity, connectivity and destination accessibility of the housing areas. While the results obtained confirm the prevalent theory on the relationship between neighborhood design and VMT, unfortunately for the study area the average VMT has been increasing with the recent housing areas.     

High-frequency random vibration analysis of a high-speed vehicle–track system with the frequency-dependent dynamic properties of rail pads using a hybrid SEM–SM method

A hybrid Spectral Element Method (SEM)–Symplectic Method(SM) method for high-efficiency computation of the high-frequency random vibrations of a high-speed vehicle–track system with the frequency-dependent dynamic properties of rail pads is presented. First, the Williams-Landel-Ferry (WLF) formula and Fractional Derivative Zener (FDZ) model were, respectively, applied for prediction and representation of the frequency-dependent dynamic properties of Vossloh 300 rail pads frequently used in China's high-speed railway. Then, the proposed hybrid SEM–SM method was used to investigate the influence of the frequency-dependent dynamic performance of Vossloh 300 rail pads on the high-frequency random vibrations of high-speed vehicle–track systems at various train speeds or different levels of rail surface roughness. The experimental results indicate that the storage stiffness and loss factors of Vossloh 300 rail pad increase with the decrease in dynamic loads or the increase in preloads within 0.1–10,000?Hz at 20°C, and basically linearly increase with frequency in a logarithmic coordinate system. The results computed by the hybrid SEM–SM method demonstrate that the frequency-dependent viscous damping of Vossloh 300 rail pads, compared with its constant viscous damping and frequency-dependent stiffness, has a much more conspicuous influence on the medium-frequency (i.e. 20–63?Hz) random vibrations of car bodies and rail fasteners, and on the mid- (i.e. 20–63?Hz) and high-frequency (i.e. 630–1250?Hz) random vibrations of bogies, wheels and rails, especially with the increase in train speeds or the deterioration of rail surface roughness. The two sensitive frequency bands can also be validated by frequency response function (FRF) analysis of the proposed infinite rail–fastener model. The mid and high frequencies influenced by the frequency-dependent viscous damping of rail pads are exactly the dominant frequencies of ground vibration acceleration and wheel rolling noise caused by high-speed railways, respectively. Even though the existing time-domain (or frequency-domain) finite track models associated with the time-domain (or frequency-domain) fractional derivative viscoelastic (FDV) models of rail pads can also be used to reach the same conclusions, the hybrid SEM–SM method in which only one element is required to compute the high-order vibration modes of infinite rail is more appropriate for high-efficiency analysis of the high-frequency random vibrations of high-speed vehicle–track systems.     

A linear complementarity method for the solution of vertical vehicle–track interaction

A new method is proposed for the solution of the vertical vehicle–track interaction including a separation between wheel and rail. The vehicle is modelled as a multi-body system using rigid bodies, and the track is treated as a three-layer beam model in which the rail is considered as an Euler-Bernoulli beam and both the sleepers and the ballast are represented by lumped masses. A linear complementarity formulation is directly established using a combination of the wheel–rail normal contact condition and the generalised-α method. This linear complementarity problem is solved using the Lemke algorithm, and the wheel–rail contact force can be obtained. Then the dynamic responses of the vehicle and the track are solved without iteration based on the generalised-α method. The same equations of motion for the vehicle and track are adopted at the different wheel–rail contact situations. This method can remove some restrictions, that is, time-dependent mass, damping and stiffness matrices of the coupled system, multiple equations of motion for the different contact situations and the effect of the contact stiffness. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed method is effective for simulating the vehicle–track interaction including a separation between wheel and rail.     

水下滑翔机的研究现状与面临的挑战

随着海洋科学研究的加深,水下滑翔机作为一种新型的无人水下航行器在经济、军事方面的价值逐渐凸显。首先介绍了水下滑翔机的研究意义以及分类情况,对水下滑翔机的研究现状以及国内外取得的具有代表性的成果进行了概括调研。然后对水下滑翔机的发展进行了分析,最后对低功耗水下滑翔机未来发展面临的导航问题、能源问题、控制问题以及通讯问题进行了讨论,提出了水下滑翔机技术的发展方向建议。     

LPG汽车在我国的应用与发展

石油资源短缺和环境保护成为21世纪人类发展面临的主要问题,液化石油气（LPG）汽车凭借其在节能减排方面的优势,将得到更广泛的应用。文章介绍了LPG的物理化学性能、来源以及LPG汽车在我国的发展状况。指出我国现阶段LPG汽车在加气站安全、加气站供气和人才技术等方面存在的问题及LPG汽车在近几十年的主要改进及发展方向。得出LPG作为新能源应用在汽车领域,在我国拥有很大优势,应得到更多的资金和技术支持。     

HEV发动机启停振动与噪声分析与控制

为降低混合动力汽车（HEV）发动机频繁启停引起的噪声与振动,提高乘坐舒适性,文章介绍了HEV的结构、驱动模式的特点以及发动机启停过程的噪声振动特点,分析了HEV的发动机启停过程产生的噪声与振动的根本原因,并提出了在此过程中噪声和振动源的控制措施,使HEV的发动机启停过程的噪声与振动得到降低,总结了HEV发动机启停的噪声与振动特性研究的发展趋势。     

轻量化技术在汽车车身上的应用

汽车轻量化对于降低汽车燃油消耗和减少排放污染起着举足轻重的作用,采用轻质材料是实现汽车轻量化的重要途径。文章详细分析了轻量化技术在现代汽车中的应用,包括铝合金、镁合金、钛合金3种轻合金的特点、轻量化设计技术以及金属成型方法和连接技术,说明了汽车轻量化的意义,对汽车的轻量化技术发展有一定的指导作用。     

丙烯酸泡棉胶带在汽车结构优化方面的应用

丙烯酸泡棉胶带在优化汽车结构方面已经成为了一种越来越重要的方式。为了更好地提供在汽车优化结构设计方面的选择,文章介绍了丙烯酸泡棉胶带的发展及其性能特点,针对汽车结构设计的优化,通过对丙烯酸泡棉胶带固定方式和传统机械固定方式的比较和分析,同时也通过两者在提高整车密封性能和降低整车质量方面的比较和分析进一步说明丙烯酸泡棉胶带在汽车内外饰连接固定的方式和汽车结构设计的方面提供了更加优化、更加经济和更加环保的选择。