Critical review of handling diagram and understeer gradient for vehicles with locked differential

The steady-state cornering behaviour of rear-wheel drive vehicles fitted with locked differential is critically analysed by means of simple, albeit carefully formulated, vehicle models, which allow for a rigorous theoretical analysis. Results obtained for some classical manoeuvres, with either constant forward speed, steer angle or turning radius, clearly show that, in the case of locked differential, the vehicle cornering behaviour is strongly affected by the manoeuvre. As an important consequence, the handling diagram is not unique and the understeer gradient is no longer dependent only upon the lateral acceleration, as in vehicles equipped with an open differential. Accordingly, this study shows that some typical tools and concepts of vehicle dynamics are indeed inadequate in the case of locked differential.     

A Novel Approach to Reduce the Environmental Footprint of Maritime Shipping

Maritime shipping is a strategic sector with a strong international vocation and management. The need to define regulations valid for many different countries w...     

Car Parameters Identification by Handling Manoeuvres

A methodology is presented for identifying car parameters by studying the vehicle's handling. The methodology is based on the Kalman filter and makes it possible to determine the parameters on the basis of the results obtained from standard, on-road handling manoeuvres.     

Experimental and numerical investigation on the derailment of a railway wheelset with solid axle

This paper presents the results of an experimental and numerical investigation on the derailment of a railway wheelset with solid axle. Tests were carried out under quasi-steady-state conditions, on a full-scale roller rig, and allowed to point out the effect of different parameters like the wheelset's angle of attack and the ratio between the vertical loads acting on the flanging and non-flanging wheels. On the basis of the test results, some existing derailment criteria are analysed in this paper and two new criteria are proposed. A model of wheel-rail contact is proposed for the mathematical modelling of the flange climb process, and numerical vs. experimental comparisons are used to obtain model validation.     

Natural and anthropogenic hydrocarbons in the water column of the Ross Sea (Antarctica)

In the framework of the Italian Research Programme in Antarctica (PNRA) an oceanographic cruise was carried out between December 2000 and February 2001 in the Western Ross Sea. n-Alkanes and PAHs concentrations were analysed in sea-water samples collected at different depths at four sites (D, B, CA2, and CA). Vertical profiles of pressure, temperature, salinity and fluorescence were also performed in order to distinguish the water masses present in the sampling areas. n-Alkanes concentrations were consistent with those found in the same area during previous expeditions and showed higher values in the particulate due to the low temperatures. n-Alkanes profiles exhibited different features in the dissolved and particulate phases. The dissolved phase was characterised by a bimodal distribution with two maxima at C16 and C24 and prevalent compounds in the range C15–C32 whereas particulate was strongly dominated by long chain n-alkanes C23–C34 with C24 (Site B, CA and CA2) or C32 (Site B) as Cmax. CPI values and Pr/Ph ratios suggested a prevalent biogenic origin for aliphatic hydrocarbons. n-Alkanes vertical distributions were affected by the dynamic of the pack-ice melting and phytoplankton activity as well by the chemical–physical properties of water masses. Higher n-alkanes values were found in the High Salinity Shelf Waters (HSSW), lower n-alkanes values were found in the Antarctic Surface Waters (AASW) and Modified Circumpolar Deep Water (MCDW).The low PAHs concentration levels confirmed the still pristine character of the Antarctic environment. Neither particular trend in total PAHs concentrations along the water column and nor correlations with the most characteristic water masses of the investigated area of the Ross Sea were observed, except that total PAH higher concentrations were generally observed in correspondence of HSSW.     

Accounting for inertia in modal choices: some new evidence using a RP/SP dataset

Inertia is related with effect that experiences in previous periods may have on the current choice. In particular, it has to do with the tendency to stick with the past choice even when another alternative becomes more appealing. As new situations force individuals to rethink about their choices new preferences may be formed. Thus a learning process begins that relaxes the effect of inertia in the current choice. In this paper we use a mixed dataset of revealed preference (RP)-stated preference (SP) to study the effect of inertia between RP and SP observations and to study if the inertia effect is stable along the SP experiments. Inertia has been studied more extensively with panel datasets, but few investigations have used RP/SP datasets. In this paper we extend previous work in several ways. We test and compare several ways of measuring inertia, including measures that have been proposed for both short and long RP panel datasets. We also explore new measures of inertia to test for the effect of “learning” (in the sense of acquiring experience or getting more familiar with) along the SP experiment and we disentangle this effect from the pure inertia effect. A mixed logit model is used that allows us to account for both systematic and random taste variations in the inertia effect and for correlations among RP and SP observations. Finally we explore the relation between the utility specification (especially in the SP dataset) and the role of inertia in explaining current choices.     

Evaluation of green wave policy in real-time railway traffic management

In order to face the expected growth of transport demand in the next years, several new traffic control policies have been proposed and analyzed both to generate timetables and to effectively manage the traffic in real-time. In this paper, a detailed optimization model is used to analyze one such policy, called green wave, which consists in letting trains wait at the stations to avoid speed profile modifications in open corridors. Such policy is expected to be especially effective when the corridors are the bottleneck of the network. However, there is a lack of quantitative studies on the real-time effects of using this policy. To this end, this work shows a comparison of the delays obtained when trains are allowed or not to change their speed profile in open corridors. An extensive computational study is described for two practical dispatching areas of the Dutch railway network.     

A modelling system to simulate goods movements at an urban scale

The paper reports a modelling system to simulate goods movements at an urban scale. It allows joint analysis of choices made by end-consumers (assumed to be families) and retailers. These movements are examined at two levels: analysis of commodity flows, in terms of quantity, generated by the consumption of commodities; analysis of commodity flows, in terms of vehicles, due to restocking. The first level allows us to calculate the goods quantity flows due to consumption and restocking; the second level allows us to determine the service, vehicles used and target time, as well as the route chosen for restocking sales outlets in order to estimate vehicle flows on the urban/metropolitan transportation network. The modelling system is a multi-step model and considers a disaggregated approach for each decisional level.