Hydrodynamic response of a passive shape-adaptive composite hydrofoil

The primary objective of this paper is to present cavitation tunnel tests performed on an optimised shape-adaptive composite hydrofoil and compare the results to other composite hydrofoils. The optimised composite hydrofoil was designed based on prior literature and was manufactured using an optimised ply orientation schedule and a pre-twist. In the same experiment schedule a composite hydrofoil that has a ply orientation that is opposite to the optimised hydrofoil was also tested. In addition to the cavitation tunnel experiments, the paper also presents results predicted from FEA and CFD simulations for the optimised hydrofoil and compares the results from numerical methods to experiments. The results show that the optimised hydrofoil has an improved L/D ratio and a delayed stall phenomenon compared to other hydrofoils. Furthermore, due to the pre-twisted optimised geometry, the hydrofoil does not suffer from loss of lift at low angles of attack. The experimental results demonstrated the importance of characterising the performance of flexible shape-adaptive hydrofoils based on the actual velocity of the flow in addition to the conventional characterisation based on Reynold's number. Additional numerical simulations were performed to investigate the hydrofoils observed load dependant deformation behaviour. These results clearly show that for the same Reynold's number, the hydrofoil can have an appreciably different response if the flow velocity is different.     

Actuator optimal placement studies of high-speed power bogie for active hunting stability

ABSTRACT

We put forward three actuator placements of the high-speed train power bogie to improve the train hunting stability. The active control forces act on the frame, between the frame and the motor, and on the motor by the inertial or retractable actuator, respectively, based on the feedback states of vibration velocity of the front and rear end beams. The feedback gains and the motor suspension parameters in different cases are optimised with the two objectives of system stability margin and control effort. The required actuator outputs of the three cases are compared based on the theoretical analysis with a 8 DOF bogie model. The results show that the three control cases can effectively improve the hunting stability, especially at high speed. The active control of motor lateral movement is helpful to increase the dynamic vibration absorbing function of the motor flexible suspension, and the control output is obviously smaller than the other two control cases. In addition, the influence of system delay on stability was analysed and we could use or avoid the effects of delay on the stability.     

Operating cost sensitivity to required time of arrival commands to ensure separation in optimal aircraft 4D trajectories

Trajectory optimisation has shown good potential to reduce environmental impact in aviation. However, a recurring problem is the loss in airspace capacity that fuel optimal procedures pose, usually overcome with speed, altitude or heading advisories that lead to more costly trajectories. This paper aims at the quantification in terms of fuel and time consumption of implementing suboptimal trajectories in a 4D trajectory context that use required times of arrival at specific navigation fixes. A case study is presented by simulating conflicting Airbus A320 departures from two major airports in Catalonia. It is shown how requiring an aircraft to arrive at a waypoint early or late leads to increased fuel burn. In addition, the efficiency of such methods to resolve air traffic conflicts is studied in terms of both fuel burn and resulting aircraft separations. Finally, various scenarios are studied reflecting various airline preferences with regards to cost and fuel burn, as well as different route and conflict geometries for a broader scope of study.     

Second order macroscopic traffic flow model validation using automatic differentiation with resilient backpropagation and particle swarm optimisation algorithms

The problem of validating the Modéle d’Écoulement de Trafic sur Autoroute NETworks (METANET) model of a motorway section is considered. Model calibration is formulated as a least squares error minimisation problem with explicit penalisation of fundamental diagram parameter variation. The Automatic Differentiation by Overloading in C++ (ADOL-C) library is incorporated into the METANET source code and is coupled with the Resilient Back Propagation (RPROP) heuristic for solving the minimisation problem. The result is a very efficient system which is able to be calibrate METANET by determining the density and speed equation parameters as well as the fundamental diagrams used. Information obtained from the system’s Jacobian provides extra insight into the dynamics showing how sensitivities propagate into the network. A 22 km site near Sheffield, UK, using data from three different days is considered. In addition to the ADOL-C/RPROP system, three particle swarm optimisation algorithms are used for solving the calibration problem. In all cases, the optimal parameter sets found are verified on data not used during calibration. Although, all three sets of data display a similar congestion pattern, the verification process showed that only one of them is capable of leading to parameter sets that capture the underlying dynamics of the traffic flow process.     

Preference-based evolutionary algorithm for airport surface operations

In addition to time efficiency, minimisation of fuel consumption and related emissions has started to be considered by research on optimisation of airport surface operations as more airports face severe congestion and tightening environmental regulations. Objectives are related to economic cost which can be used as preferences to search for a region of cost efficient and Pareto optimal solutions. A multi-objective evolutionary optimisation framework with preferences is proposed in this paper to solve a complex optimisation problem integrating runway scheduling and airport ground movement problem. The evolutionary search algorithm uses modified crowding distance in the replacement procedure to take into account cost of delay and fuel price. Furthermore, uncertainty inherent in prices is reflected by expressing preferences as an interval. Preference information is used to control the extent of region of interest, which has a beneficial effect on algorithm performance. As a result, the search algorithm can achieve faster convergence and potentially better solutions. A filtering procedure is further proposed to select an evenly distributed subset of Pareto optimal solutions in order to reduce its size and help the decision maker. The computational results with data from major international hub airports show the efficiency of the proposed approach.     

Controlled time of arrival windows for already initiated energy-neutral continuous descent operations

Continuous descent operations with controlled times of arrival at one or several metering fixes could enable environmentally friendly procedures without compromising terminal airspace capacity. This paper focuses on controlled time of arrival updates once the descent has been already initiated, assessing the feasible time window (and associated fuel consumption) of continuous descent operations requiring neither thrust nor speed-brake usage along the whole descent (i.e. only elevator control is used to achieve different metering times). Based on previous works, an optimal control problem is formulated and numerically solved. The earliest and latest times of arrival at the initial approach fix have been computed for the descent of an Airbus A320 under different scenarios, considering the potential altitudes and distances to go when receiving the controlled time of arrival update. The effects of the aircraft mass, initial speed, longitudinal wind and position of the initial approach fix on the time window have been also investigated. Results show that time windows about three minutes could be achieved for certain conditions, and that there is a trade-off between robustness facing controlled time of arrival updates during the descent and fuel consumption. Interestingly, minimum fuel trajectories almost correspond to those of minimum time.     

Optimisation of full-toroidal continuously variable transmission in conjunction with fixed ratio mechanism using particle swarm optimisation

The aim of this research is the optimisation of full-toroidal continuously variable transmission (CVT) in conjunction with the fixed ratio (FR) mechanism, while the optimisation objective is to minimise fuel consumption (FC) of the vehicle in the new European driving cycle. After the dynamic analysis of the power train, a computer model is developed to simulate contact between CVT elements and consequently calculate its efficiency. Then an algorithm is presented to calculate FC of the vehicle in the driving cycle. Then, an optimisation using particle swarm optimisation on the CVT geometry and FR mechanism (which is embedded between CVT and final drive) is carried out to minimise FC. It is found that by utilisation of the optimised CVT; FC will be about 11% and 8% lower, compared with the application of a five-speed manual transmission and conventional CVT, respectively. Finally, effects of the roller tilt angle and oil temperature on the FC are investigated.     

Hierarchical optimisation of the design parameters of a vehicle suspension system

This paper presents a design methodology for the mechanical systems entitled First Design. It is based on a hierarchical organisation of the design, taking into account the notion of robustness at an early phase of the project. The aim is to improve the quality of the system in order to make it robust, less sensitive to the variability of the external parameters and design parameters. We distinguish two main stages of the design cycle: one concerning functional parameters and another concerning physical parameters. The methodology is based on simplified models, on sensitivity analysis and on robust multi-objective optimisation. As an example, the methodology will be applied to the optimisation of vehicle suspension system design parameters. For each stage of the hierarchical design, adapted simplified models, sensitivity analyses and optimisation processes will be studied and applied to our vehicle suspension system.     

Utilisation of optimisation solutions to control active suspension for decreased braking distance

This work deals with how to utilise active suspension on individual vehicle wheels in order to improve the vehicle performance during straight-line braking. Through numerical optimisation, solutions have been found as regards how active suspension should be controlled and coordinated with friction brakes to shorten the braking distance. The results show that, for the studied vehicle, the braking distance can be shortened by more than 1?m when braking from 100?km/h. The applicability of these results is studied by investigating the approach for different vehicle speeds and actuator stroke limitations. It is shown that substantial improvements in the braking distance can also be found for lower velocities, and that the actuator strokes are an important parameter. To investigate the potential of implementing these findings in a real vehicle, a validated detailed vehicle model equipped with active struts is analysed. Simplified control laws, appropriate for on-board implementation and based on knowledge of the optimised solution, are proposed and evaluated. The results show that substantial improvements of the braking ability, and thus safety, can be made using this simplified approach. Particle model simulations have been made to explain the underlying physical mechanisms and limitations of the approach. These results provide valuable guidance on how active suspension can be used to achieve significant improvements in vehicle performance with reasonable complexity and energy consumption.     

Active control strategy on a catenary–pantograph validated model

Dynamic simulation methods have become essential in the design process and control of the catenary–pantograph system, overall since high-speed trains and interoperability criteria are getting very trendy. This paper presents an original hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) strategy aimed at integrating a multicriteria active control within the catenary–pantograph dynamic interaction. The relevance of HIL control systems applied in the frame of the pantograph is undoubtedly increasing due to the recent and more demanding requirements for high-speed railway systems. Since the loss of contact between the catenary and the pantograph leads to arcing and electrical wear, and too high contact forces cause mechanical wear of both the catenary wires and the strips of the pantograph, not only prescribed but also economic and performance criteria ratify such a relevance. Different configurations of the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller are proposed and applied to two different plant systems. Since this paper is mainly focused on the control strategy, both plant systems are simulation models though the methodology is suitable for a laboratory bench. The strategy of control involves a multicriteria optimisation of the contact force and the consumption of the energy supplied by the control force, a genetic algorithm has been applied for this purpose. Thus, the PID controller is fitted according to these conflicting objectives and tested within a nonlinear lumped model and a nonlinear finite element model, being the last one validated against the European Standard EN 50318. Finally, certain tests have been accomplished in order to analyse the robustness of the control strategy. Particularly, the relevance or the plant simulation, the running speed and the instrumentation time delay are studied in this paper.