The impact of major road developments on the spheres of urban influence of Japanese cities

This study aims to measure the impact of major road developments on the spheres of urban influence of Japanese cities.First, the sphere of urban influence is defined by application of an individual behavior model. The model explains the number of trips to representative cities in regions from the residential place of each individual using the following factors; the attractiveness of cities, the travel time to cities and the individual's free time. Development of major roads shortens the travel time, and this causes the change in the sphere of urban influence. The model we propose has the structure to explain this phenomenon.Second, this method is applied to all of Japan where expressways are now being rapidly constructed and, how they change spheres of urban influence is explained. In the application, as a measure of attractiveness of cities, population, commercial and industrial activity, etc. are considered. From these points of view, the impacts of construction of expressways in Japan are estimated.     

最近的铁道车辆技术

介绍了日本铁道综合技术研究所在铁道车辆技术方面的5项课题中所取得的成就,包括导向转向架、客车车厢内的降噪技术、车辆的动力学仿真、永磁同步电动机、车辆技术开发过程中用于闭环仿真的硬件等。其中前景看好的永磁同步电动机已取得了很大进展。     

基于飞行员主观评价的机场道面优化设计

日本东京羽田国际机场第4跑道规划建于东京湾东侧,2/3位于填海造地的人工岛上,其余1/3位于多摩川河口上,为了疏散河水,该部分采用桥梁结构。对于桥梁部分机场跑道,荷载作用下桥面的变形和桥路基过渡段的不均匀沉降是影响飞机乘坐舒适性和飞行操作安全性的2个主要因素。借助飞行模拟试验,根据飞行员主观评价的调查结果对桥面混凝土板厚度和过渡段沉降标准进行优化。结果表明,桥面板弯沉和过渡段不均匀沉降的增大会降低飞行操作安全性和乘坐舒适性,尤其对舒适性的影响更为明显。依据50%以上的飞行员对道面性能的评价为不舒服或更差这一标准,最终对羽田机场第4跑道桥面板厚度和过渡段不均匀沉降标准进行了优化。     

The nitrogen cycle in tidal flats and eelgrass beds of Ise Bay

A tidal flat-sea grass bed ecosystem model was formulated and applied to Ise Bay to evaluate the purification capability of the shallow-water region where a new airport is expected to be built. The model results were in the range of the observed biomass for each state variable in the model. The purification capability of this shallow-water region is estimated from the model results. The inorganic nitrogen removal is estimated at 56 kg N day⁻¹; the organic particulate nitrogen removal by suspension feeders is 95 kg N day⁻¹; the organic nitrogen removal by harvest and fish predation is 25 kg N day⁻¹, and the purification capability of this site is 51 kg N day⁻¹. Potential loss of the sea grass bed by reclamation will reduce the removal ability of inorganic nitrogen as well as food sources for juvenile fishes.     

铁道车辆高性能主电路系统的开发

为提高新干线的速度,需要提高输出功率,减小体积,减轻质量,降低供电设备产生的噪声。本文介绍了为E954型新干线高速试验车组开发的3种供电设备。     

日本铁道车辆用超导变压器的开发

介绍了日本铁道车辆用超导变压器的设计研发过程、主要技术参数和定型试验.     

Long-term prediction method for the green water load and volume for an assessment of the load line

 To develop a practical prediction method for the green water load and volume on the bow deck in irregular waves, model tests were conducted using a tanker and a cargo ship on a domestic Japanese voyage. The relation between green water load and relative water height at the stem was considered. Based on the finding that the maximum value of the green water load is proportional to the square of the maximum value of the water elevation over the bow top, the probability density functions of the green water load and volume in short-term predictions were proposed. It was verified that the proposed functions show good agreement with the measured distributions, especially in the tails, and were better than conventional functions. Using these functions, long-term predictions of the green water load were carried out. It was confirmed that the present method is more rational than the conventional one for estimating the long-term probability of the green water load. An assessment of the bow height of a domestic Japanese ship from the viewpoint of deck wetness was carried out using these prediction methods. This research was used as the technical background for the revision of domestic rules on load lines, which was enforced in October 2001. Received: July 19, 2002 / Accepted: October 30, 2002 Acknowledgment. Some of the present study was carried out as part of a cooperation project (RR45) with the Shipbuilding Research Association of Japan, supported by the Nippon Foundation. Address correspondence to: Y. Ogawa (e-mail: ogawa@nmri.go.jp)     

Fracture control of extremely thick welded steel plates applied to the deck structure of large container ships

The rapid enlargement of the size of container ships has led to the application of extremely thick plate in the deck structures, which may grow concerns about the fracture toughness at the butt-weld with large amount of heat input, and the arrest toughness of brittle crack propagation in the base metal of such thick plates. Also, slam-induced whipping stresses might affect the fatigue crack propagation and the initiation of a brittle crack in a container ship. In order to prevent the catastrophic failure of deck structures by brittle fracture, national joint research projects, which focused on the safety-related issues of extremely thick steel plate applied to hull of large container ships, were formed from April 2007 to March 2011 organized by the Japan Ship Technology Research Association (JSTRA) supported by the Japanese Government in collaboration with universities, national research institute, classification societies and relevant industries including shipbuilding, steel manufacturing and shipping companies. The joint research projects have carried out the investigations on crack initiation toughness of the weld, fatigue crack propagation under seaway loading, the potential of defect detection by ultrasonic testing, and the crack-arrest methods after brittle crack propagation. Practical recommendations to prevent brittle fracture of large container ships were proposed based on these comprehensive investigations. The essential parts of the above research activities are presented in this paper.