Automatic Extraction of Urban Road Centerlines from High-Resolution Satellite Imagery Using Automatic Thresholding and Morphological Operation Method

The commercial high-resolution imaging satellite with 1 m spatial resolution IKONOS is an important data source of information for urban planning and geographical information system (GIS) applications. In this paper, a morphological method is proposed. The proposed method combines the automatic thresholding and morphological operation techniques to extract the road centerline of the urban environment. This method intends to solve urban road centerline problems, vehicle, vegetation, building etc. Based on this morphological method, an object extractor is designed to extract road networks from highly remote sensing images. Some filters are applied in this experiment such as line reconstruction and region filling techniques to connect the disconnected road segments and remove the small redundant. Finally, the thinning algorithm is used to extract the road centerline. Experiments have been conducted on a high-resolution IKONOS and QuickBird images showing the efficiency of the proposed method.

Train-induced aerodynamic characteristics of vertical sound barriers influenced by several factors

Investigations into the aerodynamic properties of vertical sound barriers exposed to high-speed operations employ computational fluid dynamics.The primary focus of this research is to evaluate the influence of train speed and the distance(D)from the track centerline under various operating conditions.The findings elucidate a marked elevation in the aerodynamic effect amplitude on sound barriers as train speeds increase.In single-train passages,the aerodynamic effect amplitude manifests a direct relationship with the square of the train speed.When two trains pass each other,the aerodynamic amplitude intensifies due to an additional aerodynamic increment on the sound barrier.This increment exhibits an approximate quadratic correlation with the retrograde train speed.Notably,the impact of high-speed trains on sound barrier aerodynamics surpasses that of low-speed trains,and this discrepancy amplifies with larger speed differentials between trains.Moreover,the train-induced aerodynamic effect diminishes significantly with greater distance(D),with occurrences of pressure coefficient(CP)exceeding the standard thresholds during dual-train passages.This study culminates in the formulation of universal equations for quantifying the influence of train speed and distance(D)on sound barrier aerodynamic characteristics across various operational scenarios.

Influence of band microstructure on carbide precipitation behavior and toughness of 1 GPa-grade ultra-heavy gauge low-alloy steel

This study investigated the influence of band microstructure induced by centerline segregation on carbide precipitation behavior and toughness in an 80 mm-thick 1 GPa low-carbon low-alloy steel plate.The quarter-thickness(1/4t)and half-thickness(1/2t)regions of the plate exhibited similar ductility and toughness after quenching.After tempering,the 1/4t region exhibited~50%and~25%enhancements in both the total elongation and low-temperature toughness at-40°C,respectively,without a decrease in yield strength,whereas the toughness of the 1/2t region decreased by~46%.After quenching,both the 1/4t and 1/2t regions exhibited lower bainite and lath martensite concentrations,but only the 1/2t region exhibited microstructure bands.Moreover,the tempered 1/4t region featured uniformly dispersed short rod-like M_(23)C_(6)carbides,and spherical MC precipitates with diameters of~20–100 nm and<20 nm,respectively.The uniformly dispersed nanosized M_(23)C_(6)carbides and MC precipitates contributed to the balance of high strength and high toughness.The band microstructure of the tempered 1/2t region featured a high density of large needle-like M3C carbides.The length and width of the large M3C carbides were~200–500 nm and~20–50 nm,respectively.Fractography analysis revealed that the high density of large carbides led to delamination cleavage fracture,which significantly deteriorated toughness.

Analysis of solute redistribution and centerline segregation in continuously cast thin slab

A model has been built to calculate the solute redistribution in continuously cast thin slab and the effect of the fluid flow in mush on the centerline segregation was analyzed. The corresponding simulation program was developed by applying the SIMPLER algorithm. The momentum, energy and species conservation equations were solved simultaneously. The macro-segregation of a 3-D thin slab with 900 mm × 50 mm cross section was simulated. The obtained results show that negative segregation forms near the slab surface and severe centerline segregation forms in the mid-thickness plane. The species concentration in the centerline of the slab increases obviously at the final solidification stage.

Analysis of the effect of bore centerline on projectile exit conditions in small arms

Most finite element models of small arms focus on an idealized barrel,typically one with a perfectly straight bore centerline.Using five different experimentally measured bore centerlines,this investigation analyzes the effect centerline nonlinearity has on projectile exit conditions.This includes the effect of rotating a centerline through several orientations.Modeled using Abaqus/Explicit,this dynamic analysis simulates a single firing cycle for each centerline.Projectile jump is calculated for each model as a measure of the effects of warped centerlines.The warped centerlines have a small effect on barrel dynamics.

Macrosegregation Quality Criteria and Mechanical Soft Reduction for Central Quality Problems in Continuous Casting of Steel

In order to study the central quality of continuously cast tool steel slabs, the simple model has been developed to simulate the macrosegregation quality criteria. The model calculates different quality criteria such as average macro-segregation level criterion “ASL”, its fluctuation level “FSL” and its segregation quality number “SQN”. These criteria are calculated based on the previous measurements of carbon and sulfur concentrations distributions in final region of spray zones and centerline area of lower and upper slab sides. The effect of mechanical soft reduction Technique “MSR” on the slab centerline quality is examined and analyzed. The model results show that MSR affects the quality of centerline areas significantly by different ways based on the casting speed. The experimental and theoretical results clarify that the qualities of different slab sides are different for all collected samples. The model results show also that the accuracy of the macro-segregation quality criteria increases quantitatively with increasing the number of analyzed segregated elements. Therefore, the macrosegregation quality criteria and their distributions can be considered as the most simple and vital tool to evaluate the various slab qualities. Finally, the mechanism of centerline segregation formation with mechanical soft reduction is discussed in this study.

Skeletons of 3D Surfaces Based on the Laplace-Beltrami Operator Eigenfunctions

In this work we describe the algorithms to construct the skeletons, simplified 1D representations for a 3D surface depicted by a mesh of points, given the respective eigenfunctions of the Discrete Laplace-Beltrami Operator (LBO). These functions are isometry invariant, so they are independent of the object’s representation including parameterization, spatial position and orientation. Several works have shown that these eigenfunctions provide topological and geometrical information of the surfaces of interest [1] [2]. We propose to make use of that information for the construction of a set of skeletons, associated to each eigenfunction, which can be used as a fingerprint for the surface of interest. The main goal is to develop a classification system based on these skeletons, instead of the surfaces, for the analysis of medical images, for instance.

Semi-automated carotid lumen segmentation in computed tomography angiography images

Carotid artery stenosis causes narrowing of carotid lumens and may lead to brain infarction. The purpose of this study was to develop a semi-automated method of segmenting vessel walls, surrounding tissues, and more importantly, the carotid artery lumen by contrast computed tomography angiography（CTA） images and to define the severity of stenosis and present a three-dimensional model of the carotid for visual inspection. In vivo contrast CTA images of 14 patients（7 normal subjects and 7 patients undergoing endarterectomy） were analyzed using a multi-step segmentation algorithm. This method uses graph cut followed by watershed and Hessian based shortest path method in order to extract lumen boundary correctly without being corrupted in the presence of surrounding tissues.Quantitative measurements of the proposed method were compared with those of manual delineation by independent board-certified radiologists. The results were quantitatively evaluated using spatial overlap surface distance indices. A slightly strong match was shown in terms of dice similarity coefficient（DSC） = 0.87±0.08; mean surface distance（Dmsd）= 0.32±0.32; root mean squared surface distance（Drmssd） = 0.49±0.54 and maximum surface distance（Dmax）=2.14±2.08 between manual and automated segmentation of common, internal and external carotid arteries, carotid bifurcation and stenotic artery, respectively. Quantitative measurements showed that the proposed method has high potential to segment the carotid lumen and is robust to the changes of the lumen diameter and the shape of the stenosis area at the bifurcation site. The proposed method for CTA images provides a fast and reliable tool to quantify the severity of carotid artery stenosis.

An automatic method for road centerline extraction from post-earthquake aerial images

Road vector database plays an important role in post-earthquake relief, rescue and reconstruction.However, due to data privacy policy, it is difficult for general users to obtain high-precision and complete vector data of road network. The OpenStreetMap(OSM) project provides an open-source, global free road dataset, but there are inevitable geo-localization/projection errors, which will lead to large errors in hazard survey analysis. In this paper, we proposed a road centerline correction method using postearthquake aerial images. Under the constraint of the vector road map(OpenStreetMap), we rectified the centerline by the context feature and spectral gradient feature of post-event images automatically.The experiment implemented on 0.5 m/pixel post-event aerial images of Haiti, 2010, showed that the completeness and extraction quality of proposed method were over 90% and 80% without any manual intervention.

Study Segregation of Alloying Elements in Continuous Casting Slab with Valence Electron Structure

By calculating the electron structures of the phases that phosphor, sulfur and alloying elements dissolving inγ-Fe, the reason why alloying elements can bring centerline segregation in continuous casting slab (CCS) with nA, the number of electrons on the strongest covalent bonds, and the structure formation factor S were investigated, and an electron structural criterion to control and to eliminate the centerline segregation was advanced. Basing on this, the electron structures of a part of rare earth phosphides and sulfides are calculated, the physical mechanism that rare earth elements can control the segregation of phosphor and sulfur is analyzed, and the criterion is well verified.

Influence of roadway geometric elements on driver behavior when overtaking bicycles on rural roads

The objective of this research was to determine what influence geometric design elements of roadway may have on driver behavior during the overtaking maneuver. This was part of a larger research effort to eliminate crashes （and the resulting fatalities and injuries） between bicycles and motorized vehicles. The data collection process produced 1151 observations with approximately 40 different independent variables for each data point through direct observation, sensor logging, or derivation from other independent variables. Prior research by the authors developed a means to collect real-time field data through the use of a bicycle-mounted data collection system. The collected data was then used to model lateral clearance distance be- tween vehicles and bicycles. The developed model confirmed field observations that the lateral clearance distance provided by drivers changes with vehicle speed and oncoming vehicle presence. These observations were presented by the authors previously. The model shows that driver behavior can be adjusted by the inclusion, or exclusion, of geometric elements. Evaluating roadways （or roadway designs） based on this model will enable stakeholders to identify those roadway segments where a paved shoulder would prove an effective safety countermeasure. This research will also enable roadway designers to better identify during the design phase those roadway segments that should be constructed with a paved shoulder.

Microstructure Evolution and Recrystallization Behavior of Friction Stir Welded Thick Al-Mg-Zn-Cu alloys:Influence of Pin Centerline Deviation

Four tools with different pin centerline deviations were fabricated to friction stir weld(FSW)thick plates of Al-Mg-Zn-Cu alloys.The results show that,compared with the pin without pin centerline deviation,the applying of pin centerline deviation is favorable to improve the flowability of plastic material,enlarging the size of nugget zone,refining the grains and reprecipitated phase particles,enhancing the degrees of dynamic recrystallization and quantity of high angle grain boundaries owing to higher temperature and bigger eccentric force,resulting in the increase of strain hardening.Especially for the used pin with a centerline deviation of 0.2 mm,the highest average hardness and best metallurgical properties of thick FSW joints are produced,and which are consistent with the microstructure evolution and recrystallization behavior.Moreover,the fracture mode of the joints produced by the pins with centerline deviation from 0 mm to 0.3 mm changes gradually from a brittle fracture in the nugget zone(NZ)to a ductile failure in the HAZ.

Centerline Segregation in Continuous Casting Billets

Centerline segregation is of practical significance since it affects the material properties. Center- line segregation in continuous casting billets was studied by solving the fluid flow, solidification, and solute transport equations from the initially liquid steel to the completely solid state using the finite difference method with the SIMPLER algorithm. The results show that the centerline segregation is induced by both the fluid flow in the mushy zone and the accumulation of solute-rich liquid near the solidification front. The species concentration in the center of the strand rises quickly in the mushy region to a maximum at the end of solidification. The most serious segregation occurs along the billet centerline.