Weather impact on containership routing in closed seas: A chance-constraint optimization approach

Weather conditions have a strong effect on the operation of vessels and unavoidably influence total time at sea and associated transportation costs. The velocity and direction of the wind in particular may considerably affect travel speed of vessels and therefore the reliability of scheduled maritime services. This paper considers weather effects in containership routing; a stochastic model is developed for determining optimal routes for a homogeneous fleet performing pick-ups and deliveries of containers between a hub and several spoke ports, while incorporating travel time uncertainties attributed to the weather. The problem is originally formulated as a chance-constrained variant of the vehicle routing problem with simultaneous pick-ups and deliveries and time constraints and solved using a genetic algorithm. The model is implemented to a network of island ports of the Aegean Sea. Results on the application of algorithm reveal that a small fleet is sufficient enough to serve network’s islands, under the influence of minor delays. A sensitivity analysis based on alternative scenarios in the problem’s parameters, leads to encouraging conclusions with respect to the efficiency and robustness of the algorithm.     

A discounted recursive logit model for dynamic gridlock network analysis

Emerging sensing technologies such as probe vehicles equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) devices on board provide us real-time vehicle trajectories. They are helpful for the understanding of the cases that are significant but difficult to observe because of the infrequency, such as gridlock networks. On the premise of this type of emerging technology, this paper propose a sequential route choice model that describes route choice behavior, both in ordinary networks, where drivers acquire spatial knowledge of networks through their experiences, and in extraordinary networks, which are situations that drivers rarely experience, and applicable to real-time traffic simulations. In extraordinary networks, drivers do not have any experience or appropriate information. In such a context, drivers have little spatial knowledge of networks and choose routes based on dynamic decision making, which is sequential and somewhat forward-looking. In order to model these decision-making dynamics, we propose a discounted recursive logit model, which is a sequential route choice model with the discount factor of expected future utility. Through illustrative examples, we show that the discount factor reflects drivers’ decision-making dynamics, and myopic decisions can confound the network congestion level. We also estimate the parameters of the proposed model using a probe taxis’ trajectory data collected on March 4, 2011 and on March 11, 2011, when the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. The results show that the discount factor has a lower value in gridlock networks than in ordinary networks.     

The time slot allocation problem under uncertain capacity

This paper presents two stochastic programming models for the allocation of time slots over a network of airports. The proposed models address three key issues. First, they provide an optimization tool to allocate time slots, which takes several operational aspects and airline preferences into account; second, they execute the process on a network of airports; and third they explicitly include uncertainty. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first models for time slot allocation to consider both the stochastic nature of capacity reductions and the problem’s network structure. From a practical viewpoint, the proposed models provide important insights for the allocation of time slots. Specifically, they highlight the tradeoff between the schedule/request discrepancies, i.e., the time difference between allocated time slots and airline requests, and operational delays. Increasing schedule/request discrepancies enables a reduction in operational delays. Moreover, the models are computationally viable. A set of realistic test instances that consider the scheduling of four calendar days on different European airport networks has been solved within reasonable – for the application’s context – computation times. In one of our test instances, we were able to reduce the sum of schedule/request discrepancies and operational delays by up to 58%. This work provides slot coordinators with a valuable decision making tool, and it indicates that the proposed approach is very promising and may lead to relevant monetary savings for airlines and aircraft operators.     

VIV response of a flexible cylinder with varied coverage by buoyancy elements and helical strakes

Many significant engineering challenges have emerged as the petroleum industry has moved their field development and production activities into increasingly deeper water depths. The design of deepwater marine risers presents the combined challenges to minimize top tensioning requirements, mitigate any flow-induced vibrations, and if possible to increase the expected fatigue life of these slender structural members. As part of the design process to achieve these goals external buoyancy modules and strakes have been employed. To gain insight into the complex multi-mode response behavior a recent experimental study was performed and the analysis of selected data sets is presented. In the experiments a horizontal cylinder with a length to diameter ratio of 263 was fitted with a variety of strake and buoyancy element configurations. The models were towed at uniform speeds ranging from 0.4 to 2.0 m/s and fiber optic strain gages were used to measure both in-line and cross-flow strain response. The resulting time series information was processed utilizing the method of time domain decomposition formulated for strain data input and the introduction of modal assurance criterion to resolve the modal strain information that included frequency, mode shape, and critical damping ratio information. The pre-tensioned cylinder without appendages was used as a base case and the results were basically consistent with expectations. In the case of 0.8 m/s low-tension test, multiple closely spaced non-overlapping peaks were observed in both in-line and cross-flow directions and were identified as being of the same mode with mode shapes distorted away from purely sinusoidal behavior. The test data for the 100% coverage by helical stakes demonstrated the effectiveness of that suppression device over the range of current velocities investigated. The most interesting case was that of a staggered combination of helical strakes and buoyancy element whose total for each type of coverage was equal. This effective asymmetric VIV suppression approach is presented and discussed in detail.     

半潜式钻井支持平台在不规则波中的时域耦合分析

基于三维势流理论和莫里森方程,运用水动力软件AQWA,计算半潜式钻井支持平台的水动力特性。同时运用时域耦合方法,计算了风、浪、流共同作用下,半潜式钻井支持平台在三种工况(迎浪、斜浪和横浪)下的运动响应及系泊系统动力响应。时域耦合分析结果验证了该钻井支持平台满足规范要求。     

基于ARMA的桥梁监测信息预测技术研究

为解决桥梁结构健康监测中长期累积的海量监测数据处理问题,采用数据挖掘中的时间序列分析方法,利用自回归移动平均(ARMA)技术对桥梁历史静态监测量进行分析,直接得出关于其过去行为的有关结论,进而推断其未来发展趋势。与基于因果关系的结构式模型预测法不同,ARMA无需明确模型结构或边界条件,而是直接从统计学的角度预测变量未来发展情况。采用该技术对西安白蛇峪大桥应变监测数据进行分析,试验结果显示出较高的预测精度;采用该技术对重庆偏岩子大桥的应变、挠度、裂缝、倾斜监测量进行预测,试验统计结果表明,ARMA单步预测误差小于10%的置信度在97%以上,在工程实际中具有可实用性,可为桥梁结构的安全预警提供重要参考依据。     

沥青混凝土数字图像集料粘连效应分割方法研究

根据沥青混凝土切片图像的灰度分布特点,探讨了沥青混凝土数字图像处理的流程与方法.针对集料图像粘连问题,采用分水岭分割方法对粘连集料进行分割,验证了该方法的有效性;并且借助分割后的二值图像对集料的就位方向进行统计,明确了集料就位方向与集料扁平程度的相关性.研究结果表明分水岭分割方法具有良好的适用性,集料的就位方向明显受到集料扁平程度的影响,集料越扁平其就位方向越集中.     

车-桥耦合振动的动力响应分析

通过三角级数叠加法模拟桥面不平顺激励,运用大型有限元通用分析软件ANSYS的耦合技术对车-桥耦合振动进行了分析.提出了5个自由度的车辆模型模拟重车,160个梁单元模型模拟简支梁桥,把车辆和桥梁结构视为2个系统,利用Newmark-β法求解车-桥耦合振动方程组,进行了桥梁结构振动的位移、弯矩的响应研究.得到了桥梁跨中最大位移和弯矩都不是发生在桥梁跨中位置;随着桥面不平顺有明显的变化,随着桥面状况的变差,其响应越来越大.     

考虑荷载传递非线性特性的基桩竖向承载力计算

在现有基桩竖向承载力计算方法基础上,考虑桩侧荷栽传递的非线性特征,采用双曲线模型表示桩侧摩阻力.同时,为反映施工中桩端沉渣对承载力的影响,采用三折线模型表示桩端阻力,在此基础上采用幂级数求解方法建立考虑荷载传递非线性特性的基桩竖向承栽力计算方法,反映土体分层影响与桩桩土相互作用.工程实例分析表明,对桩侧剪力-位移实测数...     

汽车前雾灯起雾原因分析和整改

YZK6482系列DUV车市场反馈车辆在下雨后,前雾灯内部起雾或积水,点亮后长时间不能消失,影响车辆行驶。鉴于此,针对前雾灯的结构和工作原理,分析和验证其起雾原因,制定整改方案并实施,整改后的产品符合相关法规要求,投入市场使用反响良好。