Model development and dynamic load-sharing analysis of longitudinal-connected air suspensions

The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of suspension parameters on dynamic load-sharing of longitudinal-connected air suspensions of a tri-axle semi-trailer. A novel nonlinear model of a multi-axle semi-trailer with longitudinal-connected air suspension was formulated based on fluid mechanics and thermodynamics and was validated through test results. The effects of suspension parameters on dynamic load-sharing and road-friendliness of the semi-trailer were analyzed. Simulation results indicate that the road-friendliness metric DLC (Dynamic Load Coefficient), is generally in accordance with the load-sharing metric - DLSC (Dynamic Load Sharing Coefficient). When the static height or static pressure increases, the DLSC optimization ratio declines monotonically. The effect of employing larger air lines and connectors on the DLSC optimization ratio gives varying results as road roughness increases and as driving speed increases. The results also indicate that if the air line diameter is always assumed to be larger than the connector diameter, the influence of air line diameter on load-sharing is more significant than that of the connector.

A hybrid simulation framework to assess the impact of renewable generators on a distribution network

With an increasing number of small-scale renewable generator installations, distribution network planners are faced with new technical challenges (intermittent load flows, network imbalances…). Then again, these decentralized generators (DGs) present opportunities regarding savings on network infrastructure if installed at strategic locations. How can we consider both of these aspects when building decision tools for planning future distribution networks? This paper presents a simulation framework which combines two modeling techniques: agent-based modeling (ABM) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). ABM is used to represent the different system units of the network accurately and dynamically, simulating over short time-periods. PSO is then used to find the most economical configuration of DGs over longer periods of time. The infrastructure of the framework is introduced, presenting the two modeling techniques and their integration. A case study of Townsville, Australia, is then used to illustrate the platform implementation and the outputs of a simulation.

A dynamic wheel-rail impact analysis of railway track under wheel flat by Finite Element Analysis

Wheel–rail interaction is one of the most important research topics in railway engineering. It involves track impact response, track vibration and track safety. Track structure failures caused by wheel–rail impact forces can lead to significant economic loss for track owners through damage to rails and to the sleepers beneath. Wheel–rail impact forces occur because of imperfections in the wheels or rails such as wheel flats, irregular wheel profiles, rail corrugations and differences in the heights of rails connected at a welded joint. A wheel flat can cause a large dynamic impact force as well as a forced vibration with a high frequency, which can cause damage to the track structure. In the present work, a three-dimensional (3-D) finite element (FE) model for the impact analysis induced by the wheel flat is developed by use of the finite element analysis (FEA) software package ANSYS and validated by another validated simulation. The effect of wheel flats on impact forces is thoroughly investigated. It is found that the presence of a wheel flat will significantly increase the dynamic impact force on both rail and sleeper. The impact force will monotonically increase with the size of wheel flats. The relationships between the impact force and the wheel flat size are explored from this finite element analysis and they are important for track engineers to improve their understanding of the design and maintenance of the track system.

Large eddy simulation of smoke flow in a real road tunnel fire using FDS

Numerical study is carried out using large eddy simulation to study the heat and toxic gases released from fires in real road tunnels. Due to disasters about tunnel fires in previous decade, it attracts increasing attention of researchers to create safe and reliable ventilation designs. In this research, a real tunnel with 10 MW fire (which approximately equals to the heat output speed of a burning bus) at the middle of tunnel is simulated using FDS (Fire Dynamic Simulator) for different ventilation velocities. Carbone monoxide concentration and temperature vertical profiles are shown for various locations to explore the flow field. It is found that, with the increase of the longitudinal ventilation velocity, the vertical profile gradients of CO concentration and smoke temperature were shown to be both reduced. However, a relatively large longitudinal ventilation velocity leads to a high similarity between the vertical profile of CO volume concentration and that of temperature rise.

Building shared situational awareness in surgery through distributed dialogue

Background Failure to convey time-critical information to team members during surgery diminishes members’ perception of the dynamic information relevant to their task, and compromises shared situational awareness. This research reports the dialog around clinical decisions made by team members in the time-pressured and high-risk context of surgery, and the impact of these communications on shared situational awareness. Methods Fieldwork methods were used to capture the dynamic integration of individual and situational elements in surgery that provided the backdrop for clinical decisions. Nineteen semi structured interviews were performed with 24 participants from anaesthesia, surgery, and nursing in the operating rooms of a large metropolitan hospital in Queensland, Australia. Thematic analysis was used. Results: The domain “coordinating decisions in surgery” was generated from textual data. Within this domain, three themes illustrated the dialog of clinical decisions, i.e., synchronizing and strategizing actions, sharing local knowledge, and planning contingency decisions based on priority. Conclusion Strategies used to convey decisions that enhanced shared situational awareness included the use of “self-talk”, closed-loop communications, and “overhearing” conversations that occurred at the operating table. Behaviours’ that compromised a team’s shared situational awareness included tunnelling and fixating on one aspect of the situation.

Design of open source framework for traffic and travel simulation

For the evaluation, design, and planning of traffic facilities and measures, traffic simulation packages are the de facto tools for consultants, policy makers, and researchers. However, the available commercial simulation packages do not always offer the desired work flow and flexibility for academic research. In many cases, researchers resort to designing and building their own dedicated models, without an intrinsic incentive (or the practical means) to make the results available in the public domain. To make matters worse, a substantial part of these efforts pertains to rebuilding basic functionality and, in many respects, reinventing the wheel. This problem not only affects the research community but adversely affects the entire traffic simulation community and frustrates the development of traffic simulation in general. For this problem to be addressed, this paper describes an open source approach, OpenTraffic, which is being developed as a collaborative effort between the Queensland University of Technology, Australia; the National Institute of Informatics, Tokyo; and the Technical University of Delft, the Netherlands. The OpenTraffic simulation framework enables academies from geographic areas and disciplines within the traffic domain to work together and contribute to a specific topic of interest, ranging from travel choice behavior to car following, and from response to intelligent transportation systems to activity planning. The modular approach enables users of the software to focus on their area of interest, whereas other functional modules can be regarded as black boxes. Specific attention is paid to a standardization of data inputs and outputs for traffic simulations. Such standardization will allow the sharing of data with many existing commercial simulation packages.

A prototype system dynamic model for assessing the sustainability of construction projects

There is a worldwide demand for an increasingly sustainable built environment. This has resulted in the need for a more accurate evaluation of the level of sustainability of construction projects. To do this it involves the development of better measurement and benchmarking methods. One approach is to use a theoretical model to assess construction projects in terms of their sustainable development value (SDV) and sustainable development ability (SDA) for implementation in the project life cycle, where SDA measures the contribution of a project to development sustainability and as a major criterion for assessing its feasibility. This paper develops an improved SDA prototype model that incorporates the effects of dynamical factors on project sustainability. This involves the introduction of two major factors concerning technological advancement and changes in people's perceptions. A case study is used to demonstrate the procedures involved in simulation and modeling, one outcome of which is to demonstrate the greater influence of technological advancement on project sustainability than changes in perception.

Scheduling decisions and their dynamic consequences on construction performance

Construction practitioners often experience unexpected results of their scheduling-related decisions. This is mainly due to lack of understanding of the dynamic nature of construction system. However, very little attention has been given to its significant importance and few empirical studies have been undertaken on this issue. This paper, therefore, analyzes the effect of aggressive scheduling, overtime, resource adding, and schedule slippage on construction performance, focusing on workers’ reactions to those scheduling decisions. Survey data from 102 construction practitioners in 38 construction sites are used for the analysis. The results indicate that efforts to increase work rate by working overtime, resource adding, and aggressive scheduling can be offset due to losses in productivity and quality. Based on the research findings, practical guidelines are then discussed to help site managers to effectively deal with the dynamics of scheduling and improve construction performance.

Dynamic modeling for construction innovation

Previous research on construction innovation has commonly recognized the importance of the organizational climate and key individuals, often called “champions,” for the success of innovation. However, it rarely focuses on the role of participants at the project level and addresses the dynamics of construction innovation. This paper therefore presents a dynamic innovation model that has been developed using the concept of system dynamics. The model incorporates the influence of several individual and situational factors and highlights two critical elements that drive construction innovations: (1) normative pressure created by project managers through their championing behavior, and (2) instrumental motivation of team members facilitated by a supportive organizational climate. The model is qualified empirically, using the results of a survey of project managers and their project team members working for general contractors in Singapore, by assessing casual relationships for key model variables. Finally, the paper discusses the implications of the model structure for fostering construction innovations.

Effect of driving conditions and suspension parameters on dynamic load-sharing of longitudinal-connected air suspensions

The objective of this research was to investigate the effects of driving conditions and suspension parameters on dynamic load-sharing of longitudinal-connected air suspensions of a tri-axle semi-trailer. A novel nonlinear model of a multi-axle semi-trailer with longitudinal-connected air suspension was formulated based on fluid mechanics and thermodynamics and was validated through test results. The effects of driving conditions and suspension parameters on dynamic load-sharing and road-friendliness of the semi-trailer were analyzed. Simulation results indicate that the road-friendliness metric-DLC (dynamic load coefficient) is not always in accordance with the load-sharing metric-DLSC (dynamic load-sharing coefficient). The effect of employing larger air lines and connectors on the DLSC optimization ratio gives varying results as road roughness increases and as driving speed increases. When the vehicle load reduces, or the static pressure increases, the DLSC optimization ratio declines monotonically. The results also indicate that if the air line diameter is always assumed to be larger than the connector diameter, the influence of air line diameter on load-sharing is more significant than that of the connector.

Groundwater visualisation system (GVS) : a software framework for integrated display and interrogation of conceptual hydrogeological models, data and time-series animation

Management of groundwater systems requires realistic conceptual hydrogeological models as a framework for numerical simulation modelling, but also for system understanding and communicating this to stakeholders and the broader community. To help overcome these challenges we developed GVS (Groundwater Visualisation System), a stand-alone desktop software package that uses interactive 3D visualisation and animation techniques. The goal was a user-friendly groundwater management tool that could support a range of existing real-world and pre-processed data, both surface and subsurface, including geology and various types of temporal hydrological information. GVS allows these data to be integrated into a single conceptual hydrogeological model. In addition, 3D geological models produced externally using other software packages, can readily be imported into GVS models, as can outputs of simulations (e.g. piezometric surfaces) produced by software such as MODFLOW or FEFLOW. Boreholes can be integrated, showing any down-hole data and properties, including screen information, intersected geology, water level data and water chemistry. Animation is used to display spatial and temporal changes, with time-series data such as rainfall, standing water levels and electrical conductivity, displaying dynamic processes. Time and space variations can be presented using a range of contouring and colour mapping techniques, in addition to interactive plots of time-series parameters. Other types of data, for example, demographics and cultural information, can also be readily incorporated. The GVS software can execute on a standard Windows or Linux-based PC with a minimum of 2 GB RAM, and the model output is easy and inexpensive to distribute, by download or via USB/DVD/CD. Example models are described here for three groundwater systems in Queensland, northeastern Australia: two unconfined alluvial groundwater systems with intensive irrigation, the Lockyer Valley and the upper Condamine Valley, and the Surat Basin, a large sedimentary basin of confined artesian aquifers. This latter example required more detail in the hydrostratigraphy, correlation of formations with drillholes and visualisation of simulation piezometric surfaces. Both alluvial system GVS models were developed during drought conditions to support government strategies to implement groundwater management. The Surat Basin model was industry sponsored research, for coal seam gas groundwater management and community information and consultation. The “virtual” groundwater systems in these 3D GVS models can be interactively interrogated by standard functions, plus production of 2D cross-sections, data selection from the 3D scene, rear end database and plot displays. A unique feature is that GVS allows investigation of time-series data across different display modes, both 2D and 3D. GVS has been used successfully as a tool to enhance community/stakeholder understanding and knowledge of groundwater systems and is of value for training and educational purposes. Projects completed confirm that GVS provides a powerful support to management and decision making, and as a tool for interpretation of groundwater system hydrological processes. A highly effective visualisation output is the production of short videos (e.g. 2–5 min) based on sequences of camera ‘fly-throughs’ and screen images. Further work involves developing support for multi-screen displays and touch-screen technologies, distributed rendering, gestural interaction systems. To highlight the visualisation and animation capability of the GVS software, links to related multimedia hosted online sites are included in the references.

Towards a Dynamic IS Function

With the growing importance of IS for organizations and the continuous stream of new IT developments, the IS function in organizations becomes more critical but is also more challenged. For example, how should the IS function deal with the consumerization of IT or what is the added value of the IS function when it comes to SaaS and the Cloud? In this paper we argue that IS research is in need of a dynamic perspective on the IS function. The IS function has to become more focused on building and adapting IS capabilities in a changing environment. We discuss that there has been an overreliance on the Resource Based View so far for understanding the IS function and capabilities and introduce Dynamic Capabilities Theory as an additional theoretical perspective, which has only been limitedly addressed in IS literature yet. We present a first conceptualization of the dynamic IS function and discuss IS capabilities frameworks and individual IS capabilities from a dynamic perspective. These initial insights demonstrate the contribution of a dynamic perspective on the IS function itself.

Spectrum sensing optimisation for dynamic primary user signal

We propose a multi-layer spectrum sensing optimisation algorithm to maximise sensing efficiency by computing the optimal sensing and transmission durations for a fast changing, dynamic primary user. Dynamic primary user traffic is modelled as a random process, where the primary user changes states during both the sensing period and transmission period to reflect a more realistic scenario. Furthermore, we formulate joint constraints to correctly reflect interference to the primary user and lost opportunity of the secondary user during the transmission period. Finally, we implement a novel duty cycle based detector that is optimised with respect to PU traffic to accurately detect primary user activity during the sensing period. Simulation results show that unlike currently used detection models, the proposed algorithm can jointly optimise the sensing and transmission durations to simultaneously satisfy the optimisation constraints for the considered primary user traffic.

Representative learning design in dynamic interceptive actions

The overarching aim of this thesis was to investigate how processes of perception and action emerge under changing informational constraints during performance of multi-articular interceptive actions. Interceptive actions provide unique opportunities to study processes of perception and action in dynamic performance environments. The movement model used to exemplify the functionally coupled relationship between perception and action, from an ecological dynamics perspective, was cricket batting. Ecological dynamics conceptualises the human body as a complex system composed of many interacting sub-systems, and perceptual and motor system degrees of freedom, which leads to the emergence of patterns of behaviour under changing task constraints during performance. The series of studies reported in the Chapters of this doctoral thesis contributed to understanding of human behaviour by providing evidence of key properties of complex systems in human movement systems including self-organisation under constraints and meta-stability. Specifically, the studies: i) demonstrated how movement organisation (action) and visual strategies (perception) of dynamic human behaviour are constrained by changing ecological (especially informational) task constraints; (ii) provided evidence for the importance of representative design in experiments on perception and action; and iii), provided a principled theoretical framework to guide learning design in acquisition of skill in interceptive actions like cricket batting.

Static and dynamic performance of lightweight hybrid composite floor plate system

In the modern built environment, building construction and demolition consume a large amount of energy and emits greenhouse gasses due to widely used conventional construction materials such as reinforced and composite concrete. These materials consume high amount of natural resources and possess high embodied energy. More energy is required to recycle or reuse such materials at the cessation of use. Therefore, it is very important to use recyclable or reusable new materials in building construction in order to conserve natural resources and reduce the energy and emissions associated with conventional materials. Advancements in materials technology have resulted in the introduction of new composite and hybrid materials in infrastructure construction as alternatives to the conventional materials. This research project has developed a lightweight and prefabricatable Hybrid Composite Floor Plate System (HCFPS) as an alternative to conventional floor system, with desirable properties, easy to construct, economical, demountable, recyclable and reusable. Component materials of HCFPS include a central Polyurethane (PU) core, outer layers of Glass-fiber Reinforced Cement (GRC) and steel laminates at tensile regions. This research work explored the structural adequacy and performance characteristics of hybridised GRC, PU and steel laminate for the development of HCFPS. Performance characteristics of HCFPS were investigated using Finite Element (FE) method simulations supported by experimental testing. Parametric studies were conducted to develop the HCFPS to satisfy static performance using sectional configurations, spans, loading and material properties as the parameters. Dynamic response of HCFPS floors was investigated by conducting parametric studies using material properties, walking frequency and damping as the parameters. Research findings show that HCFPS can be used in office and residential buildings to provide acceptable static and dynamic performance. Design guidelines were developed for this new floor system. HCFPS is easy to construct and economical compared to conventional floor systems as it is lightweight and prefabricatable floor system. This floor system can also be demounted and reused or recycled at the cessation of use due to its component materials.