Effects of countdown timers on queue discharge characteristics of through movement at a signalized intersection

This study investigates how countdown timers installed at a signalized intersection affect the queue discharge characteristics of through movement during the green phase. Since the countdown timers display the time remaining (in seconds) until the onset of the green phase, drivers waiting in the queue at the intersection are aware of the upcoming phase change, and are likely to respond quicker. Thus, the countdown timers could reduce the start-up lost time, decrease the saturation headway, and increase the saturation flow rate. This study observed vehicle flow at an intersection in Bangkok for 24 h when the countdown timers were operating, and for another 24 h when the countdown timers were switched off. The signal plans and timings remained unchanged in both cases. Standard statistical t-tests were used to compare the difference in traffic characteristics between the “with timer” and “without timer” cases. It was found that the countdown timers had a significant impact on the start-up lost time, reducing it by 1.00–1.92 s per cycle, or a 17–32% time saving. However, the effects on saturation headway were found to be trivial, which implies that the countdown timers do not have much impact on the saturation flow rate of signalized intersections, especially during the off-peak day period and the late night period. The savings in the start-up lost time from the countdown timers was estimated to be equivalent to an 8–24 vehicles/h increase for each through movement lane at the intersection being studied.     

An Optimization Model for Guiding Pedestrian–Vehicle Mixed Flows During an Emergency Evacuation

In most metropolitan areas, an emergency evacuation may require a potentially large number of pedestrians to walk some distance to access their passenger cars or resort to transit systems. In this process, the massive number of pedestrians may place a tremendous burden on vehicles in the roadway network, especially at critical intersections. Thus, the effective road enforcement of the vehicle and pedestrian flows and the proper coordination between these two flows at critical intersections during a multimodal evacuation process is a critical issue in evacuation planning. This article presents an integrated linear model for the design of optimized flow plans for massive mixed pedestrian–vehicle flows within an evacuation zone. The optimized flow can also be used to generate signal timing plans at critical intersections. In addition, the linear nature of the model can circumvent the computational burden to apply in large-scale networks. An illustrating example of the evacuation around the M&T Bank Stadium in downtown Baltimore, MD, is presented and used to demonstrate the model's capability to address the complex interactions between vehicle and pedestrian flows within an evacuation zone. Results of simulation experiments verify the applicability of our model to a real-world scenario and further indicate that accounting for such conflicting movements will yield more reliable estimation of an evacuation's required clearance time.     

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.     

BINGHAM流体环空管流流动及传热规律研究

结合BINGHAM流体的本构方程、管流运动方程及能量方程 ,推导了BINGHAM流体环空管流速度分布及温度分布。由于BINGHAM流体具有屈服值 ,环空管流流动中会形成流核。流核的宽度与屈服应力成正比 ,与广义压力梯度呈反比。流核中心线偏离环空中心线 ,且偏向环空内侧。环空内外径之比越小 ,相对偏离越远。在其他条件不变的情况下 ,当屈服应力增大时 ,速度分布剖面变得愈扁平。当其他条件不变时 ,流核速度随环空内外径之比减小而增大。流核内温度变化比环空内外侧明显小 ,随屈服应力的增大 ,温度分布剖面愈扁平。     

水泥混凝土泵车液压系统测试与冲击研究

根据水泥混凝土泵车实际存在的问题 ,对其在不同工况下工作时液压系统的流量、压力、温度等参数进行了测试 ,对实验数据进行了分析与处理 ,提出了减小臂架振幅 ,防止共振发生的途径和方法。     

车用催化器结构因素对流速分布的影响

车用催化器的速度分布特性对催化器和发动机的性能有很大影响。本文在气道稳流实验台上利用三孔结托管测量了不同结构催化器的速度分布，并进行了细胞致的对比分析。研究表明：张张角越大，流速分布越不均匀，但锥角超过一定值后，对流速分布的影响减弱；斜扩张管催化器的速度分布性相同长度直扩张管催化器；球形端面载体的速度分布均匀性要好于常平端面载体；载体安装位置扩张管越远，流速分布越均匀。     

航行船体周围稳态流场计算的双重面积分方法

将Galerkin方法与虚拟面元源汇分布方法相结合，发展了用于求解航行船体三维非均匀稳态流场速度势及其高阶偏微分的双重面积分方法。为验证该方法的有效性，进行了半浸圆球稳态流场的数值计算。通过与圆球绕流问题解析解的比较，表明积分表面单元划分和虚拟单元的设置方式等对最终数值结果的影响可忽略不计。本文方法有助于对航行船体的水弹性力学特性进行更合理和更完善的分析。     

袋式除尘器流场模拟与结果分析

以混凝土搅拌站袋式除尘器为研究目标,在solidworks中建立袋式除尘器的三维实体,利用fluent流体分析软件对内部流场进行数值模拟,得到其内部的速度、压力以及流体轨迹等参数分布,来探究影响除尘器使用寿命的因素,为袋式除尘器的优化提供理论支撑。     

工艺中的泄漏检测对产品质量控制的重要性

文章阐明了密封性测试在批量生产方式的汽车制造业中的重要性,介绍了广泛使用的压力法和流量法泄漏检测的基本原理,着重通过实例说明了根据不同检漏方法开发的泄漏测试设备的特点及其在生产中的适用性,并据此对企业在密封工序工艺规划中的设备选择原则进行了分析。通过对用于燃油系统中的脱附试验装置的介绍,进一步表明了基于合理方案研制的专用密封性检测设备能为产品质量提供可靠的保证。     

基于混沌理论的高速公路网短时交通流量预测研究

随着高速公路网的建成及其交通流量的不断增大,对高速路网交通流实时控制和诱导服务的需求日益突出,而高速公路网短时交通流量的预测,不仅是交通流实时控制和诱导服务的基础和依据,而且预测结果的准确性对改善高速公路网的通行能力和服务水平有重要影响。基于混沌时间序列分析和预测的理论,建立了高速公路网短时交通流预测模型,计算给定区域高速公路网多断面短时交通流量预测值,结果表明利用多维混沌时间序列法预测高速公路网短时交通流量可行且具有较高的精度。