An investigation into the effect of suspension configurations on the performance of tracked vehicles traversing bump terrains

This is a theoretical investigation into the effect of various suspension configurations on a tracked vehicle performance over bump terrains. The model developed is validated using published experimental data of the modal characteristics of the vehicle. The desired performance is based on ride comfort via the mixed objective function (MOF), which combines the crest factor of bounce acceleration, bounce displacement, angular acceleration, and pitch angle. The optimisation process involves evaluating the MOF for different numbers and locations of dampers and under different rigid bump road conditions and speeds. The system responses of the selected suspension configurations in the time and frequency domains are compared against the undamped suspension. The results show that the suspension configurations have a significant effect on the vehicle mobility over bump road profiles. For a five-road–wheel half model of a tracked vehicle, the maximum number of dampers to use for ride comfort over these road bumps is three with the dampers located at wheel positions 1, 2 and 5. This confirms the current practice for many tracked vehicles with 10 road wheels. However, it is further shown that the suspension fitted with two dampers at the extreme road wheels offer the best performance over various rigid bump terrains.     

不同驱动系统下纯电动汽车关键性能对比研究

为比较纯电动汽车不同驱动系统的关键性能,基于同一整车参数和某公司提供的可变绕组永磁同步电机试验数据,对纯电动汽车电机驱动系统开展了相关研究。基于精英保留遗传算法和动态规划理论,对单挡、两挡电控机械式自动变速器驱动系统的速比进行了设计优化。采用了精英保留遗传算法和动态规划理论对系统速比进行设计优化,并对可变绕组永磁同步电机绕组切换过程进行了动力性和经济性设计。仿真结果表明,在动力性上,两挡自动变速器驱动系统的加速性能最优;在经济性上,可变绕组永磁同步电机驱动系统的百公里能耗最小,单挡自动变速器驱动系统的动力性和经济性表现最不理想。     

CO2 emissions in relation to street-network configuration and city size

The street-network efficiency of tens of British cities in relation to transport fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions are analyzed. The results show a strong linear positive correlation between length entropy and average street length, and a negative correlation between entropy and street density. Also, the results suggest that in a large city the street network is used more efficiently than in a small city, as indicated by the sublinear relations between city size (population) and the number of streets, total length of streets, and the area covered by the street network. The sublinear relation means that these parameters grow more slowly than the city size. By contrast, because a larger fraction of the street network is used at close to full capacity during considerable part of the time in a large city than a small one, the fuel consumption and the CO₂ emissions show a linear relation with city size and superlinear relation with total street length. The superlinear relation means that the CO₂ emissions increase faster than the total street length, a measure of the network size. Thus, large cities may be less energy efficient and environmentally friendly than small cities. In every city the street network needs to interconnect all the buildings, which requires a certain minimum size. In a small city, however, the network is used to a low capacity most of the time so that its relations to fuel consumption and the CO₂ emissions are more favorable than those in a large city.     

重载铁路接触网关键技术方案研究与应用

重载铁路具备牵引质量大、功率高、接触网载流量大等特点,对接触网的系统需求不同于普通铁路,有必要对接触网关键技术方案进行深入研究。通过计算机模拟仿真分析和多方案比选论证,确定接触网导线规格、张力配置、主要零部件选型及电分相形式等关键技术方案。研究成果已经成功应用于山西中南部铁路、张唐铁路等重载线路。针对目前重载铁路接触网零部件规格型式不一,不便于运营维护的现状,建议加强对重载铁路接触网主要装备的统一化、标准化研究,保障运输安全、降低工程投资。     

An empirical study of the impacts of operating and market conditions on container-port efficiency and benchmarking

Despite the growing amount of research on container-port efficiency and benchmarking, the literature on the subject is yet to provide stable and consistent results across researchers and in relation to dynamic operating and market conditions. In this paper, we formulate a number of operational hypotheses to test the sensitivity of benchmarking results to port market and operating conditions namely production scale, cargo mix, transhipment ratio, operating configurations, and working procedures. A series of data envelopment analysis (DEA) models are used to measure the operational efficiency of 420 container terminal decision-making units from 2004 till 2010. The results show that variations in operating conditions highly impact terminal efficiency and that future work on container-port performance and benchmarking should take into account the structure and mechanisms underpinning the operations of container ports and terminals.     

Numerical investigations into the influence of geometric configurations on hydrodynamic characteristics of torpedo anchors

Torpedo anchors are an innovative and cost-effective technology in marine foundation engineering; however, there is a lack of systematic and comprehensive studies on the influence of torpedo anchor geometry on its hydrodynamic characteristics, especially the effect of anchor fin configuration on the hydrodynamic characteristics is rarely reported in the existing literature. Therefore, this study investigates the influence of geometric characteristics of both finless and finned torpedo anchors on their terminal velocity, drag coefficient and installation directional stability in water through CFD numerical analysis in a systematical manner. The considered geometric characteristics include the center of gravity position, shape and angle of anchor tip, shaft and fin aspect ratio, fin number, fin thickness, fin shape, fin position and fin area. Based on the obtained numerical results, some practical design recommendations and impact weighting charts of different anchor geometric factors are provided, which enables a quick qualitative and quantitative assessment of torpedo anchors. In addition, a simple weight-based approach for estimation of terminal velocity and drag coefficient of torpedo anchors considering multiple geometric configuration factors is proposed, which may provide some reference and scientific guidance for experimental and engineering design of torpedo anchors.