Influence analysis of chevron alignment signs on drivers' speed choices at horizontal curves on highways

Using a driving simulator,the effects of Chinese chevrons on drivers’actual and perceived safe speeds at horizontal curves on two-lane rural highways are tested. Twelve horizontal curves with different roadway geometries are designed and used as the simulated scenarios.The results show that, regardless of the curve radius, chevrons at horizontal curves provide advance warning and speed control for vehicles on the nearside of chevrons.Besides,chevrons can be used as an addition to speed limit signs in preventing excessive speed at horizontal curves and, therefore, can contribute to a reduction in run-off-road crashes.Moreover, Chinese chevrons can also serve to provide an improved sense of safety while driving around sharp curves.These study results lay a foundation for setting Chinese chevrons more reasonably.

Application of artificial neural networks for operating speed prediction at horizontal curves: a case study in Egypt

Horizontal alignment greatly affects the speedof vehicles at rural roads. Therefore, it is necessary toanalyze and predict vehicles speed on curve sections.Numerous studies took rural two-lane as research subjectsand provided models for predicting operating speeds.However, less attention has been paid to multi-lane highwaysespecially in Egypt. In this research, field operatingspeed data of both cars and trucks on 78 curve sections offour multi-lane highways is collected. With the data, correlationbetween operating speed （V85） and alignment isanalyzed. The paper includes two separate relevant analyses.The first analysis uses the regression models toinvestigate the relationships between V85 as dependentvariable, and horizontal alignment and roadway factors asindependent variables. This analysis proposes two predictingmodels for cars and trucks. The second analysisuses the artificial neural networks （ANNs） to explore theprevious relationships. It is found that the ANN modelinggives the best prediction model. The most influential variableon V85 for cars is the radius of curve. Also, for V85 fortrucks, the most influential variable is the median width.Finally, the derived models have statistics within theacceptable regions and they are conceptually reasonable.

Isothermal extrusion speed curve design for porthole die of hollow aluminium profile based on PID algorithm and finite element simulations

The isothermal extrusion process of hollow aluminium profile was investigated using incremental proportional-integral-derivative(PID)control algorithm and finite element simulations.The range of extrusion speed was determined by considering the maximum extrusion load and production efficiency.By taking the optimal solution temperature of the secondary phase as the target temperature,the extrusion speed–stroke curve for realizing the isothermal extrusion of the aluminium profile was obtained.Results show that in the traditional constant extrusion speed process,the average temperature of the cross-section of the aluminium profile at the die exit rapidly increases and then slowly rises with the increase in ram displacement.As the extrusion speed increases,the temperature difference at the die exit of the profile along the extrusion direction increases.The exit temperature difference between the front and back ends of the extrudate along the extrusion direction obtained by adopting isothermal extrusion is about 6.9℃.Furthermore,the heat generated by plastic deformation and friction during extrusion is balanced with the heat transfer from the workpiece to the container,porthole die and external environment.

Crash Modification Factors for Dynamic Speed Feedback Signs on Rural Curves

A large number of crashes occur on curves even though they account for only a small percentage of a system’s mileage. Excessive speed has been identified as a primary factor in both lane departure and curve-related crashes. A number of countermeasures have been proposed to reduce driver speeds on curves, which ideally result in successful curve negotiation and fewer crashes. Dynamic speed feedback sign (DSFS) systems are traffic control devices that have been used to reduce vehicle speeds successfully and, subsequently, crashes in applications such as traffic calming on urban roads. DSFS systems show promise, but they have not been fully evaluated for rural curves. To better understand the effectiveness of DSFS systems in reducing crashes on curves, a national field evaluation of DSFS systems on curves on rural two lane roadways was conducted. Two different DSFS systems were selected and placed at 22 sites in seven states. Control sites were also identified. A full Bayes modeling methodology was utilized to develop crash modification factors (CMFs) for several scenarios including total crashes for both directions, total crashes in the direction of the sign, total single-vehicle crashes, and single-vehicle crashes in the direction of the sign. Using quarterly crash frequency as the response variable, crash modification factors were developed and results showed that crashes were 5% to 7% lower after installation of the signs depending on the model.

Analysis of the generation mechanism of the S-shaped J–V curves of MoS_(2)/Si-based solar cells

Amorphous–microcrystalline MoS_(2)thin films are fabricated using the sol-gel method to produce MoS_(2)/Si-based solar cells. The generation mechanisms of the S-shaped current density–voltage(J–V) curves of the solar cells are analyzed. To improve the performance of the solar cells and address the problem of the S-shaped J–V curve, a MoS_(2)film and a p^(+) layer are introduced into the front and back interfaces of the solar cell, respectively, which leads to the formation of a p–n junction between the p-Si and the MoS_(2)film as well as ohmic contacts between the MoS_(2)film and the ITO, improving the S-shaped J–V curve. As a result of the high doping characteristics and the high work function of the p^(+) layer, a high–low junction is formed between the p;and p layers along with ohmic contacts between the p;layer and the Ag electrode. Consequently,the S-shaped J–V curve is eliminated, and a significantly higher current density is achieved at a high voltage. The device exhibits ideal p–n junction rectification characteristics and achieves a high power-conversion efficiency(CE) of 7.55%. The findings of this study may improve the application of MoS_(2)thin films in silicon-based solar cells, which are expected to be widely used in various silicon-based electronic and optical devices.

Speed prediction models for car and sports utility vehicleat locations along four-lane median divided horizontal curves

Sites with varying geometric features were analyzed to develop the 85 th percentile speed prediction models for car and sports utility vehicle(SUV) at 50 m prior to the point of curvature(PC), PC, midpoint of a curve(MC), point of tangent(PT) and 50 m beyond PT on four-lane median divided rural highways. The car and SUV speed data were combined in the analysis as they were found to be normally distributed and not significantly different. Independent parameters representing geometric features and speed at the preceding section were logically selected in stepwise regression analyses to develop the models. Speeds at various locations were found to be dependent on some combinations of curve length, curvature and speed in the immediately preceding section of the highway. Curve length had a significant effect on the speed at locations 50 m prior to PC, PC and MC. The effect of curvature on speed was observed only at MC. The curve geometry did not have a significant effect on speed from PT onwards. The speed at 50 m prior to PC and curvature is the most significant parameter that affects the speed at PC and MC, respectively. Before entering a horizontal curve, drivers possibly perceive the curve based on its length. Longer curve encourages drivers to maintain higher speed in the preceding tangent section. Further, drivers start experiencing the effect of curvature only after entering the curve and adjust speed accordingly. Practitioners can use these findings in designing consistent horizontal curve for vehicle speed harmony.

LOOK-AHEAD ALGORITHM FOR VELOCITY CONTROL BASED ON PARAMETERIZED CURVE INTERPOLATOR

To avoid suffering gouge and transient overshooting in high speed cutting machining, a novel parametefized curve interpolator model with velocity look-ahead algorithm is proposed. Based on a prearrangement step interpolation algorithm for parameterized curves and considering high curvature points, parameterized curve tool path is divided into acceleration segments and deceleration segments by look-ahead algorithm. Under condition of characteristics of acceleration and deceleration stored in control system, deceleration before high curvature points and acceleration after high curvature points are realized in real-time in high speed cutting machining. Based on new parameterized curve interpolator model with velocity look-ahead algorithm, a real cubic spline is machined simulativly. The simulation results show that velocity look-ahead algorithm improves velocity changing more smoothly.

Rational offset approximation of rational Bézier curves

The problem of parametric speed approximation of a rational curve is raised in this paper. Offset curves are widely used in various applications. As for the reason that in most cases the offset curves do not preserve the same polynomial or rational polynomial representations, it arouses difficulty in applications. Thus approximation methods have been introduced to solve this problem. In this paper, it has been pointed out that the crux of offset curve approximation lies in the approximation of parametric speed. Based on the Jacobi polynomial approximation theory with endpoints interpolation, an algebraic rational approximation algorithm of offset curve, which preserves the direction of normal, is presented.

Design of the Minimum Curve Radius of the Hainan East Ring Railway

The minimum curve radius is one of the most important factors in railway route design. The minimum curve radius of the Hainan East Ring Railway, a newly built high-speed passenger-dedicated line from Haikou to Sanya, Hainan, China, was determined through comparative analysis of the design codes both in China and Germany. The results show that the design parameters of the Hainan East Ring Railway in terms of the minimum curve radius determined by China＇s Temporary Regulations, conform to the ones by German code, and even preserve some capacity for speeds up to 300 km/h in the future. Additionally, the related counter- measures for speed increases in this line were proposed on the premise of the safety and riding comfort of the trains.

Research on cubic polynomial acceleration and deceleration control model for high speed NC machining

To satisfy the need of high speed NC (numerical control) machining, an acceleration and deceleration (acc/dec) control model is proposed, and the speed curve is also constructed by the cubic polynomial. The proposed control model provides continuity of acceleration, which avoids the intense vibration in high speed NC machining. Based on the discrete characteristic of the data sampling interpolation, the acc/dec control discrete mathematical model is also set up and the discrete expression of the theoretical deceleration length is obtained furthermore. Aiming at the question of hardly predetermining the deceleration point in acc/dec control before interpolation, the adaptive acc/dec control algorithm is deduced from the expressions of the theoretical deceleration length. The experimental result proves that the acc/dec control model has the characteristic of easy implementation, stable movement and low impact. The model has been applied in multi-axes high speed micro fabrication machining successfully.

Study on the operational safety of high-speed trains exposed to stochastic winds

The characteristic wind curve （CWC） was com- monly used in the previous work to evaluate the operational safety of the high-speed trains exposed to crosswinds. How- ever, the CWC only provide the dividing line between safety state and failure state of high-speed trains, which can not evaluate the risk of derailment of high-speed trains when ex- posed to natural winds. In the present paper, a more realistic approach taking into account the stochastic characteristics of natural winds is proposed, which can give a reasonable and effective assessment of the operational safety of high-speed trains under stochastic winds. In this approach, the longitudi- nal and lateral components of stochastic winds are simulated based on the Cooper theory and harmonic superposition. An algorithm is set up for calculating the unsteady aerody- namic forces （moments） of the high-speed trains exposed to stochastic winds. A multi-body dynamic model of the rail vehicle is established to compute the vehicle system dynamic response subjected to the unsteady aerodynamic forces （mo- ments） input. Then the statistical method is used to get the mean characteristic wind curve （MCWC） and spread range of the high-speed trains exposed to stochastic winds. It is found that the CWC provided by the previous analyticalmethod produces over-conservative limits. The methodol- ogy proposed in the present paper can provide more signif- icant reference for the safety operation of high-speed trains exposed to stochastic winds.

Effect of Cutting Speed on Surface Quality by Bandsawing

The surface profile behavior of workpieces sawn has been investigated. Six species were sawn under the condi-tion of four different kinds of cutting speed by the band saw. The real surface profile of a sawn workpiecc is composed of twosections, which arc the additivity of the waviness of filtered wave and roughness curve. The roughness of center line avernge aswell as amplitude decrease with the increasing of cutting speed for different kinds of species used in the experiment.

Model of desired speed based on vehicle dynamic

The desired speed will help the drivers control their driver behavior that could directly influences the traffic safety. This paper presents a basic definition of a driver＇ s desired speed, and analyzes the effects of road geometer parameter, driver behavior and vehicle performance on the desired speed. By setting the familiar horizontal curve as the research environment, the generating process of the desired speed was described. Then, combined with the desired trajectory, the effect of driver＇ s identification of vehicle dynamic on the desired speed was highlighted. Based on the vehicle dynamic theory, a desired speed model that consisted of the desired trajectory, the driver＇s experience and vehicle parameter was established and numerically analyzed.

Contribution to the Investigation of Motorcyclists’ Speed Prediction Equations for Two-Lane Rural Roads

The calculation of speed prediction equations has been the subject of numerous researches in the past. The majority of them present models to predict free-flow speed in terms of the road geometry at the curved road sections and more specifically in terms of the radiuses of the curves. Common characteristic is that none of them approaches the speed behavior of motorcycles since they are excluded from the datasets of the various studies. Instead, the models usually predict operating speed for other vehicle types such as passenger cars, vans, pickups and trucks. The present paper aims to cover this gap by developing speed prediction equations for motorcycles. For this purpose a new methodology is proposed while field measurements were carried out in order to obtain an adequate dataset of free-flow speeds along the curved sections of three different two lane rural roads. The aforementioned field measurements were conducted by two participants incorporating various road conditions (e.g. light conditions, experience level, familiarity with the routes). The ultimate target was the development of speed prediction equations by calculating the optimum regression curves between the curve radius’ and the corresponding velocities for the different road conditions. The research revealed that the proposed methodology could be used as a very useful tool to investigate motorcyclists’ behavior at curved road sections. Moreover it was feasible to draw conclusions correlating the speed adjustment with the various driving conditions.

Characteristics of wheel-rail vibration of the vertical section in high-speed railways

In order to analyze the characteristics of wheel-rail vibration of the vertical section in a high-speed railway, a vehicle-line dynamics model is established using the dynamics software SIMPACK. Through this model, the paper analyzes the influence of vertical section parameters, including vertical section slope and vertical curve radius, on wheel-rail dynamics interaction and the acting region of wheel-rail vibration. In addition, the characteristics of wheel- rail vibration of the vertical section under different velocities are investigated. The results show that the variation of wheel load is not sensitive to the vertical section slope but is greatly affected by the vertical curve radius. It was also observed that the smaller the vertical curve radius is, the more severe the interaction between the wheel and rail be- comes. Furthermore, the acting region of wheel-rail vibration expands with the vertical curve radius increasing. On another note, it is necessary to match the slope and vertical curve radius reasonably, on account of the influence of operation speed on the characteristics of wheel-rail vibration. This is especially important at the design stage of vertical sec- tions for lines of different grades.

Detection and Determination of the Variation of the Speed of Time

Steadily increasing time is involved in most scientific analyses. Like other dimensions in spacetime we suggest that there can be a variation rate of time’s progress or speed of time in the time dimension. We study speed-of-time variation observational data in three processes: muon decay, galaxy rotation (related to dark matter) and the separation speed of celestial objects as our Universe progresses (related to dark energy). Each of these processes will have an “observed value” of their time of completion Po from an observation of the process at time t1 and an “expected value” Pe of that time at time t2. Their difference is attributed to the variation of the speed of time. We provide a possible explanation for the anomalous separation of the observed and the expected galactic velocity curves. Our conclusion is that it is unnecessary to introduce dark matter or dark energy.

高速铁路大跨度钢桁架桥接触网腕臂安装技术研究

高速铁路大跨度钢桁架桥纵向伸缩量大且变位复杂,是影响接触网腕臂偏移等系统能否正常、安全运行的重要因素,如何解决接触网腕臂安装、偏移调整与钢梁伸缩之间的协同配合,目前国内在此方面鲜有研究。通过阐述受导线伸缩影响的腕臂偏移机理和大跨度钢桁架桥梁体纵向伸缩机理,分析在不同接触网锚段布置方式下大跨度钢桁架桥梁体伸缩对腕臂偏移的影响,并采用逐工点分析法总结不同工况下钢梁伸缩与导线伸缩对腕臂偏移影响的相互关系,揭示了接触网腕臂安装曲线在导线伸缩及钢梁伸缩共同作用下的计算方法。结合典型案例计算分析,建议采用不同钢梁跨度下的推荐锚段布置方式能有效降低腕臂偏移量,并提出应重点关注伸缩缝两侧锚段腕臂偏移问题、腕臂偏移为叠加关系时缩小半锚长度、钢梁跨度大于720 m时应重点计算伸缩缝两侧双腕臂间距等优化事项。研究内容及计算公式可为系统性解决高速铁路大跨度钢桁架桥接触网腕臂偏移设计、施工及运营维护等技术难题提供理论支持。

考虑制动、荷载转移、纵坡的雨天小客车弯道安全车速模型

为了确定降雨环境下小客车弯道安全车速,基于瞬时轴线,建立了考虑纵坡、制动加速度及轮胎荷载转移的小客车侧滑速度模型;通过实地采集不同水膜厚度下的摩擦系数,得到了这二者之间的回归方程;结合摩擦椭圆原理,得到了考虑制动、驾驶人行为特性的综合摩擦系数分配方法;提出确定弯道车速的计算流程图,得到了不同降雨强度下以横向侧滑和纵向停车为指标的弯道车速。研究结果表明:当水膜厚度为0时,得到的侧滑速度值比点质量模型低35%左右;当水膜厚度小于2 mm时,摩擦系数降低最快,对车速影响最大;当水膜厚度大于2 mm时,摩擦系数变化幅度小且规律不明显;降雨对小客车弯道安全车速影响显著,仅小雨时就会导致车速平均降低15%左右;取一般最小半径计算时,不同降雨强度下的纵向停车速度均小于横向侧滑速度。

内嵌式中低速磁浮线路平面最小曲线半径

[目的]内嵌式中低速磁浮系统作为一种新型的轨道交通制式,其车辆及轨道系统依靠非接触式支撑运行,且车辆走行机构内嵌于轨道梁内,因此需针对其车线匹配原理、车辆和轨道梁结构特点,研究线路平面最小曲线半径取值,以支撑工程设计。[方法]介绍了内嵌式中低速磁浮系统的特点;介绍了平面最小曲线半径取值的基本原理;基于车辆行驶动力学理论,分析了内嵌式中低速磁浮线路的旅客舒适度标准及平面最小曲线半径取值。[结果及结论]在列车运行速度一定的情况下,平面最小曲线半径主要取决于横坡角允许值和未被平衡离心加速度允许值。在参考国内外其他轨道交通制式的试验结果、相关标准规定、传统中低速磁浮系统实际建设运营情况的基础上,建议最大横坡角不大于8°,最大未被平衡离心加速度在一般和困难情况下分别不大于0.4 m/s^(2)和0.6 m/s^(2)。当内嵌式中低速磁浮系统设计速度为200 km/h时,线路平面最小曲线半径一般和困难情况下分别可取为1800 m和1600 m。

匀变速移动双轴车辆荷载下薄壁曲梁桥平面外弯扭振动响应

考虑车辆加速或减速过程中前后车轮对曲梁作用力的影响及薄壁曲梁桥的翘曲刚度和阻尼,将车辆荷载简化成移动双轴集中力,研究匀变速车辆荷载下简支薄壁曲梁桥平面外弯扭振动响应。采用Fourier正弦变换和Laplace变换及其逆变换的方法推导匀变速车辆荷载下薄壁曲梁竖向和扭转位移的解析解,并与相关文献及有限元分析结果对比,证明该解析解和理论方法的正确性。在此基础上,探究车辆初速度、车辆加速度、曲梁半径对曲梁平面外弯扭振动响应的影响。研究结果表明:当车辆以大于16 m/s的初速度加速移动时,加速度越大,桥梁跨中振动位移峰值越大;车辆减速移动时,加速度绝对值越大,桥梁跨中振动位移峰值越小;当初速度达到36 m/s时,加速度对薄壁曲梁跨中振动位移峰值影响较小。该方法及结论可为匀变速移动荷载下曲梁结构振动问题提供相关理论参考。