Refined disturbance observer based prescribed performance fixed-time control of high-speed EMS trains with track irregularities

High-speed Electromagnetic Suspension(EMS)train is continuously impacted by the irregularity of the track,which worsens the levitation performance of the train.In this paper,a composite control scheme for the EMS is proposed to suppress track irregularities by integrating a Refined Disturbance Observer(RDO)and a Prescribed Performance Fixed-Time Controller(PPFTC).The RDO is designed to estimate precisely the track irregularities and lumped disturbances with uncertainties and exogenous disturbances in the suspension system,and reduce input chattering by applying to the disturbance compensation channel.PPFTC is designed to converge the suspension air gap error to equilibrium point with prescribed performance by completing error conversion,and solve the fast dynamic issue of EMS.And the boundary of overshoot and steady-state is limited in the ranged prescribed.A theoretical analysis is conducted on the stability of the proposed control method.Finally,the effectiveness and reasonability of the proposed composite anti-disturbance control scheme is verified by simulation results.

A review of high performance computing applications in high-speed rail systems

Further improving the railway innovation capacity and technological strength is the important goal of the 14th Five-Year Plan for railway scientific and technological innovation.It includes promoting the deep integration of cutting-edge technologies with the railway systems,strengthening the research and application of intelligent railway technologies,applying green computing technologies and advancing the collaborative sharing of transportation big data.The high-speed rail system tasks need to process huge amounts of data and heavy workload with the requirement of ultra-fast response.Therefore,it is of great necessity to promote computation efficiency by applying High Performance Computing(HPC)to high-speed rail systems.The HPC technique is a great solution for improving the performance,efficiency,and safety of high-speed rail systems.In this review,we introduce and analyze the application research of high performance computing technology in the field of highspeed railways.These HPC applications are cataloged into four broad categories,namely:fault diagnosis,network and communication,management system,and simulations.Moreover,challenges and issues to be addressed are discussed and further directions are suggested.

Challenges of the Performance Standards of the International Finance Corporation in Financing the African Integrated High-Speed Railway Network and the Way Forward: The Case of Standard Gauge Railway in Tanzania

Financing of the African Integrated High-Speed Railway Network (AIHSRN) through Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Projects is very expensive. As a result, most of the African countries seek financial supports from the International Financial Institutions (IFIs). However, conditions provided by the IFIs through the Performance Standards (PS) of the International Financial Corporation (IFC) increase cost of the projects and thus, it becomes a burden to most of the African countries. This study aimed to explore the causes of IFC-PS through the SGR Projects that escalate costs and how to address them. The Tanzania SGR Lot 1 Project that covered 205 km from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro was selected as a case study. The methods used for data collection involved literature review, focus group discussions and interviews. The results and findings show a gap between the IFC-PS and the National Laws and Regulations that escalates costs of the projects if funds from the IFIs were to be secured. To bridge the gap, it is recommended that the African countries should engage into negotiations with the IFIs to agree to waive IFC-PS conditions that escalate costs provided they are adequately covered in the national laws and regulations;engagement of locally established national and regional financial institutions;and the responsible government institutions in the African countries should sit together for assessment and review of the IFC-PS against the national laws and regulations.

Effects of spot size on the operation mode of Ga As photoconductive semiconductor switch employing extrinsic photoconductivity

To guide the illuminating design to improve the on-state performances of gallium arsenide(GaAs)photoconductive semiconductor switch(PCSS),the effect of spot size on the operation mode of GaAsPCSS based on a semi-insulating wafer with a thickness of 1 mm,triggered by a 1064-nm extrinsic laser beam with the rectangular spot,has been investigated experimentally.It is found that the variation of the spot size in length and width can act on the different parts of the output waveform integrating the characteristics of the linear and nonlinear modes,and then significantly boosts the PCSS toward different operation modes.On this basis,a two-channel model containing the active and passive parts is introduced to interpret the relevant influencing mechanisms.Results indicate that the increased spot length can peak the amplitude of static domains in the active part to enhance the development of the nonlinear switching,while the extended spot width can change the distribution of photogenerated carriers on both parts to facilitate the linear switching and weaken the nonlinear switching,which have been proved by comparing the domain evolutions under different spot sizes.

JR East aims for driverless Shinkansen operation

East Japan Railway Company(JR East)is aiming to“realize driverless train operation”as one of the key measures to respond to rapid changes in the business environment.Currently,Automatic Train Operation(ATO)equipment is not installed on the Shinkansen,but there are plans to introduce ATO or driverless operation in the near future.From 2018-2021,the Ministry of Land,Infrastructure,Transport and Tourism(MLIT)held the“ATO Technology Study Group for Railways”in which the concept of technical requirements necessary for driverless operation was discussed.In 2021,JR East conducted the GOA4 demonstration test on the Joetsu Shinkansen.In this test,we were able to confirm the basic functions of Shinkansen vehicles such as automatic departure control,speed control,fixed position stop control,and remote stop control using ATO.We aim to realize unattended operation(GOA4)for deadhead trains between Niigata Station and the Niigata Shinkansen Rolling Stock Center by the end of the 2020 s,and driverless operation(GOA3)for passenger trains of the Joetsu Shinkansen by the mid-2030s and continue to develop the necessary technologies and build systems.

Current status and prospects of research on safety situation awareness of high speed railway operation environment

Purpose–The safety of high-speed rail operation environments is an important guarantee for the safe operation of high-speed rail.The operating environment of the high-speed rail is complex,and the main factors affecting the safety of high-speed rail operating environment include meteorological disasters,perimeter intrusion and external environmental hazards.The purpose of the paper is to elaborate on the current research status and team research progress on the perception of safety situation in high-speed rail operation environment and to propose directions for further research in the future.Design/methodology/approach–In terms of the mechanism and spatio-temporal evolution law of the main influencing factors on the safety of high-speed rail operation environments,the research status is elaborated,and the latest research progress and achievements of the team are introduced.This paper elaborates on the research status and introduces the latest research progress and achievements of the team in terms of meteorological,perimeter and external environmental situation perception methods for high-speed rail operation.Findings–Based on the technical route of“situational awareness evaluation warning active control,”a technical system for monitoring the safety of high-speed train operation environments has been formed.Relevant theoretical and technical research and application have been carried out around the impact of meteorological disasters,perimeter intrusion and the external environment on high-speed rail safety.These works strongly support the improvement of China’s railway environmental safety guarantee technology.Originality/value–With the operation of CR450 high-speed trains with a speed of 400 kmper hour and the application of high-speed train autonomous driving technology in the future,new and higher requirements have been put forward for the safety of high-speed rail operation environments.The following five aspects of work are urgently needed:(1)Research the single factor disaster mechanism of wind,rain,snow,lightning,etc.for high-speed railways with a speed of 400 kms per hour,and based on this,study the evolution characteristics of multiple safety factors and the correlation between the high-speed driving safety environment,revealing the coupling disastermechanism ofmultiple influencing factors;(2)Research covers multi-source data fusion methods and associated features such as disaster monitoring data,meteorological information,route characteristics and terrain and landforms,studying the spatio-temporal evolution laws of meteorological disasters,perimeter intrusions and external environmental hazards;(3)In terms of meteorological disaster situation awareness,research high-precision prediction methods for meteorological information time series along high-speed rail lines and study the realization of small-scale real-time dynamic and accurate prediction of meteorological disasters along high-speed rail lines;(4)In terms of perimeter intrusion,research amulti-modal fusion perception method for typical scenarios of high-speed rail operation in all time,all weather and all coverage and combine artificial intelligence technology to achieve comprehensive and accurate perception of perimeter security risks along the high-speed rail line and(5)In terms of external environment,based on the existing general network framework for change detection,we will carry out research on change detection and algorithms in the surrounding environment of highspeed rail.

Generalized autoencoder-based fault detection method for traction systems with performance degradation

Fault diagnosis of traction systems is important for the safety operation of high-speed trains.Long-term operation of the trains will degrade the performance of systems,which decreases the fault detection accuracy.To solve this problem,this paper proposes a fault detection method developed by a Generalized Autoencoder(GAE)for systems with performance degradation.The advantage of this method is that it can accurately detect faults when the traction system of high-speed trains is affected by performance degradation.Regardless of the probability distribution,it can handle any data,and the GAE has extremely high sensitivity in anomaly detection.Finally,the effectiveness of this method is verified through the Traction Drive Control System(TDCS)platform.At different performance degradation levels,our method’s experimental results are superior to traditional methods.

Performance of Gas-Steam Combined Cycle Cogeneration Units Influenced by Heating Network Terminal Steam Parameters

The determination of source-side extracted heating parameters is of great significance to the economic operation of cogeneration systems.This paper investigated the coupling performance of a cogeneration heating and power system multidimensionally based on the operating characteristics of the cogeneration units,the hydraulic and thermodynamic characteristics of the heating network,and the energy loads.Taking a steam network supported by a gas-steam combined cycle cogeneration system as the research case,the interaction effect among the source-side prime movers,the heating networks,and the terminal demand thermal parameters were investigated based on the designed values,the plant testing data,and the validated simulation.The operating maps of the gas-steam combined cycle cogeneration units were obtained using THERMOFLEX,and the minimum source-side steam parameters of the steam network were solved using an inverse solution procedure based on the hydro-thermodynamic coupling model.The cogeneration operating maps indicate that the available operating domain considerably narrows with the rise of the extraction steam pressure and flow rate.The heating network inverse solution demonstrates that the source-side steam pressure and temperature can be optimized from the originally designed 1.11 MPa and 238.8°C to 1.074 MPa and 191.15°C,respectively.Under the operating strategy with the minimum source-side heating parameters,the power peak regulation depth remarkably increases to 18.30%whereas the comprehensive thermal efficiency decreases.The operation under the minimum source-side heating steam parameters can be superior to the originally designed one in the economy at a higher price of the heating steam.At a fuel price of$0.38/kg and the power to fuel price of 0.18 kg/(kW·h),the critical price ratio of heating steam to fuel is 119.1 kg/t.The influence of the power-fuel price ratio on the economic deviation appears relatively weak.

Evaluation of Driver-Induced Human Errors in Smart Construction Tower Crane Operations Based on DEMATEL-ISM-MICMAC

With the advent of Industry 4.0, smart construction sites have seen significant development in China. However, accidents involving digitized tower cranes continue to be a persistent issue. Among the contributing factors, human unsafe behavior stands out as a primary cause for these incidents. This study aims to assess the human reliability of tower crane operations on smart construction sites. To proactively enhance safety measures, the research employs text mining techniques (TF-IDF-Truncated SVD-Complement NB) to identify patterns of human errors among tower crane operators. Building upon the SHEL model, the study categorizes behavioral factors affecting human reliability in the man-machine interface, leading to the establishment of the Performance Shaping Factors (PSFs) system. Furthermore, the research constructs an error impact indicator system for the intelligent construction site tower crane operator interface. Using the DEMATEL method, it analyzes the significance of various factors influencing human errors in tower crane operations. Additionally, the ISM-MICMAC method is applied to unveil the hierarchical relationships and driving-dependent connections among these influencing factors. The findings indicate that personal state, operating procedures, and physical environment directly impact human errors, while personal capability, technological environment, and one fundamental organizational management factor contribute indirectly. .

Effect of landform on aerodynamic performance of high-speed trains in cutting under cross wind

The effects of the different landforms of the cutting leeward on the aerodynamic performance of high-speed trains were analyzed based on the three-dimensional, steady, and incompressible Navier-Stokes equation and k-e double-equation turbulent model. Results show that aerodynamic forces increase with the cutting leeward slope decreasing. The maximum adding value of lateral force, lift force, and overturning moment are 147%, 44.3%, and 107%, respectively, when the slope varies from 0.67 to -0.67, and the changes in the cutting leeward landform have more effects on the aerodynamic performance when the train is running in the line No. 2 than in the line No. 1. The aerodynamic forces, except the resistance force, sharply increase with the slope depth decreasing. By comparing the circumstance of the cutting depth H=-8 m with that of H=8 m, the resistance force, lateral force, lift force, and overturning moment increase by 26.0%, 251%, 67.3% and 177%, respectively. With the wind angle increasing, the resistance force is nonmonotonic, whereas other forces continuously rise. Under three special landforms, the changes in the law of aerodynamic forces with the wind angle are almost similar to one another.

Dynamic response limit of high-speed railway bridge under earthquake considering running safety performance of train

Due to the wide railway network and different characteristics of many earthquake zones in China,considering the running safety performance of trains(RSPT)in the design of high-speed railway bridge structures is very necessary.In this study,in order to provide the seismic design and evaluation measure of the bridge structure based on the RSPT,a calculation model of RSPT on bridge under earthquake was established,and the track surface response measure when the derailment coefficient reaches the limit value was calculated by referring to 15 commonly used ground motion(GM)intensity measures.Based on the coefficient of variation of the limit value obtained from multiple GM samples,the optimal measures were selected.Finally,the limit value of bridge seismic response based on RSPT with different train speeds and structural periods was determined.

Supercapacitor electrode based on few-layer h-BNNSs/rGO composite for wide-temperature-range operation with robust stable cycling performance

Currently,developing supercapacitors with robust cycle stability and suitability for wide-temperature-range operations is still a huge challenge.In the present work,few-layer hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets(h-BNNSs)with a thickness of 2−4 atomic layers were fabricated via vacuum freeze-drying and nitridation.Then,the h-BNNSs/reduced graphene oxide(rGO)composite were further prepared using a hydrothermal method.Due to the combination of two two-dimensional(2D)van der Waals-bonded materials,the as-prepared h-BNNSs/rGO electrode exhibited robustness to wide-temperature-range operations from−10 to 50℃.When the electrodes worked in a neutral aqueous electrolyte(1 M Na2SO4),they showed a great stable cycling performance with almost 107%reservation of the initial capacitance at 0℃ and 111% at 50℃ for 5000 charge−discharge cycles.

Influence of propagation direction on operation performance of rotating detonation combustor with turbine guide vane

Due to the pressure gain combustion characteristics,the rotating detonation combustor(RDC)can enhance thermodynamic cycle efficiency.Therefore,the performance of gas-turbine engine can be further improved with this combustion technology.In the present study,the RDC operation performance with a turbine guide vane(TGV)is experimentally investigated.Hydrogen and air are used as propellants while hydrogen and air mass flow rate are about 16.1 g/s and 500 g/s and the equivalence ratio is about 1.0.A pre-detonator is used to ignite the mixture.High-frequency dynamic pressure transducers and silicon pressure sensors are employed to measure pressure oscillations and static pressure in the combustion chamber.The experimental results show that the steady propagation of rotating detonation wave(RDW)is observed in the combustion chamber and the mean propagation velocity is above 1650 m/s,reaching over 84%of theoretical Chapman-Jouguet detonation velocity.Clockwise and counterclockwise propagation directions of RDW are obtained.For clockwise propagation direction,the static pressure is about 15%higher in the combustor compared with counterclockwise propagation direction,but the RDW dominant frequency is lower.When the oblique shock wave propagates across the TGV,the pressure oscillations reduces significantly.In addition,as the detonation products flow through the TGV,the static pressure drops up to 32%and 43%for clockwise and counterclockwise propagation process respectively.

Influence of Design Margin on Operation Optimization and Control Performance of Chemical Processes

Operation optimization is an effective method to explore potential economic benefits for existing plants. The m.aximum potential benefit from operationoptimization is determined by the distances between current operating point and process constraints, which is related to the margins of design variables. Because of various ciisturbances in chemical processes, some distances must be reserved for fluctuations of process variables and the optimum operating point is not on some process constraints. Thus the benefit of steady-state optimization can not be fully achied（ed while that of dynamic optimization can be really achieved. In this study, the steady-state optimizationand dynamic optimization are used, and the potential benefit-is divided into achievable benefit for profit and unachievable benefit for control. The fluid catalytic cracking unit （FCCU） is used for case study. With the analysis on how the margins of design variables influence the economic benefit and control performance, the bottlenecks of process design are found and appropriate control structure can be selected.

Parametric analysis on buffeting performance of a long-span high-speed railway suspension bridge

The buffeting performance of kilometer-level high-speed railway suspension bridges has a great impact on the smooth operation of high-speed trains.To investigate the buffeting performance of the structure significantly different from traditional suspension bridges,the first long-span high-speed railway suspension bridge,Wufengshan Yangtze River Bridge(WYRB),is taken as a numerical example to demonstrate the effects of structural parameters and wind field parameters on the buffeting responses.Based on the design information,the spatial finite element model(FEM)of WYRB is established before testing its accuracy.The fluctuating wind fields are simulated via both classical and stochastic wave based spectral representation method(SRM).Finite element method is further taken to analyze the parametric sensitivity on wind induced buffeting responses in time domain.The results show that the vertical displacement is more sensitive to the changing dead load than the lateral and torsional ones.The larger stiffness of the main girder and the lower sag-to-span ratio are both helpful to reduce the buffeting responses.Wind spectrum and coherence function are key influencing factors to the responses so setting proper wind field parameters are essential in the wind-resistant design stage.The analytical results can provide references for wind resistance analysis and selection of structural and fluctuating wind field parameters for similar long-span high-speed railway suspension bridges.

High-Speed Trains Automatic Operation with Protection Constraints: A Resilient Nonlinear Gain-based Feedback Control Approach

This paper addresses the control design for automatic train operation of high-speed trains with protection constraints.A new resilient nonlinear gain-based feedback control approach is proposed,which is capable of guaranteeing,under some proper non-restrictive initial conditions,the protection constraints control raised by the distance-to-go(moving authority)curve and automatic train protection in practice.A new hyperbolic tangent function-based model is presented to mimic the whole operation process of high-speed trains.The proposed feedback control methods are easily implementable and computationally inexpensive because the presence of only two feedback gains guarantee satisfactory tracking performance and closed-loop stability,no adaptations of unknown parameters,function approximation of unknown nonlinearities,and attenuation of external disturbances in the proposed control strategies.Finally,rigorous proofs and comparative simulation results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.

Operational Safety Assessment of a High-Speed Train Exposed to the Strong Gust Wind

The operational safety characteristics of trains exposed to a strong wind have caused great concern in recent years.In the present paper,the effect of the strong gust wind on a high-speed train is investigated.A typical gust wind model for any wind angle,named“Chinese hat gust wind model”,was first constructed,and an algorithm for computing the aerodynamic loads was elaborated accordingly.A vehicle system dynamic model was then set up in order to investigate the vehicle system dynamic characteristics.The assessment of the operational safety has been conducted by means of characteristic wind curves(CWC).As some of the parameters of the wind-train system were difficult to measure,we also investigated the impact of the uncertain system parameters on the CWC.Results indicate that,the descending order of the operational safety index of the vehicle for each wind angle is 90°-60°-120°-30°-150°,and the worst condition for the operational safety occurs when the wind angle reaches around 90°.According to our findings,the gust factor and aerodynamic side force coefficient have great impact on the critical wind speed.Thus,these two parameters require special attention when considering the operational safety of a railway vehicle subjected to strong gust wind.

Full-scale multi-functional test platform for investigating mechanical performance of track–subgrade systems of high-speed railways

Motivated by the huge practical engineering demand for the fundamental understanding of mechanical characteristics of high-speed railway infrastructure,a fullscale multi-functional test platform for high-speed railway track–subgrade system is developed in this paper,and its main functions for investigating the mechanical performance of track–subgrade systems are elaborated with three typical experimental examples.Comprising the full-scale subgrade structure and all the five types of track structures adopted in Chinese high-speed railways,namely the CRTS I,the CRTS II and the CRTS III ballastless tracks,the double-block ballastless track and the ballasted track,the test platform is established strictly according to the construction standard of Chinese high-speed railways.Three kinds of effective loading methods are employed,including the real bogie loading,multi-point loading and the impact loading.Various types of sensors are adopted in different components of the five types of track–subgrade systems to measure the displacement,acceleration,pressure,structural strain and deformation,etc.Utilizing this test platform,both dynamic characteristics and long-term performance evolution of high-speed railway track–subgrade systems can be investigated,being able to satisfy the actual demand for large-scale operation of Chinese high-speed railways.As examples,three typical experimental studies are presented to elucidate the comprehensive functionalities of the full-scale multi-functional test platform for exploring the dynamic performance and its long-term evolution of ballastless track systems and for studying the long-term accumulative settlement of the ballasted track–subgrade system in high-speed railways.Some interesting phenomena and meaningful results are captured by the developed test platform,which provide a useful guidance for the scientific operation and maintenance of high-speed railway infrastructure.

Influence of dynamic unbalance of wheelsets on the dynamic performance of high-speed cars

With further increasing in running speed of newer high-speed EMUs（electric multiple units）,higher demand for wheelset dynamic balance is required.In order to study the influence of the dynamic unbalance of wheelset on the stability,ride quality,and curving performance for a high-speed car,a detailed dynamic model of a high-speed EMU car is established using the software SIMPACK.The analysis results indicate that the dynamic unbalance of the wheelset significantly influences the dynamic performance of the high-speed car.The increase in dynamic unbalance of the wheelset will decrease the hunting critical speed,worsen the vertical ride quality,and increase the wheelset lateral force,derailment coefficient,and wheel unloading ratio.Therefore,in order to improve the stability,ride quality,and running safety of high-speed car,the values of dynamic unbalance of wheelset should be strictly controlled in manufacturing,and periodically monitored in operation.

Effect of car-body lower-center rolling on aerodynamic performance of a high-speed train

The interaction between the car-body vibration and aerodynamic performance of the train becomes more prominent motivated by the vehicle’s light-weighting design.To address this topic,this study firstly analyzes the posture characteristics of the car-body based on the previous full-scale test results.And then the aerodynamic performance under different vibration cases(different car-body roll angles)is studied with an improved delayed detached eddy simulation(IDDES).The results revealed that car-body rolling had a significant impact on the aerodynamic behavior of bogies,which significantly increased the lateral force and yaw moment of a bogie and further may have aggravated the operational instability of the train.The unbalanced distribution of the longitudinal pressure on both sides of the bogie caused by the car-body rolling motion was the primary cause for the bogie yaw moment increase.The tail vortex of the train was also affected by the car-body rolling,resulting in vertical jitter.