The Fairchild ESV family sedan - final report. Volume 1.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

The Fairchild ESV family sedan - final report. Volume 2.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Research safety vehicle - phase II. Volume IIIb: subcontractor final reports.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Experimental Demonstration Of A New Concept Of Drag Reduction And Thermal Protection For Hypersonic Vehicles

A new idea of drag reduction and thermal protection for hypersonic vehicles is proposed based on the combination of a physical spike and lateral jets for shock-reconstruction. The spike recasts the bow shock in front of a blunt body into a conical shock, and the lateral jets work to protect the spike tip from overheating and to push the conical shock away from the blunt body when a pitching angle exists during flight. Experiments are conducted in a hypersonic wind tunnel at a nominal Mach number of 6. It is demonstrated that the shock/shock interaction on the blunt body is avoided due to injection and the peak pressure at the reattachment point is reduced by 70% under a 4A degrees attack angle.

Experimental model identification of open-frame underwater vehicles

Most of the works published on hydrodynamic parameter identification of open-frame underwater vehicles focus their attention almost exclusively on good coherence between simulated and measured responses, giving less importance to the determination of “actual values” for hydrodynamic parameters. To gain insight into hydrodynamic parameter experimental identification of open-frame underwater vehicles, an experimental identification procedure is proposed here to determine parameters of uncoupled and coupled models. The identification procedure includes: (i) a prior estimation of actual values of the forces/torques applied to the vehicle, (ii) identification of drag parameters from constant velocity tests and (iii) identification of inertia and coupling parameters from oscillatory tests; at this stage, the estimated values of drag parameter obtained in item (ii) are used. The procedure proposed here was used to identify the hydrodynamic parameters of LAURS—an unmanned underwater vehicle developed at the University of São Paulo. The thruster–thruster and thruster–hull interactions and the advance velocity of the vehicle are shown to have a strong impact on the efficiency of thrusters appended to open-frame underwater vehicles, especially for high advance velocities. Results of tests with excitation in 1-DOF and 3-DOF are reported and discussed, showing the feasibility of the developed procedure.

Energy Storage Systems for Electric Vehicles: Performance Comparison based on a Simple Equivalent Circuit and Experimental Tests

The decision to select the most suitable type of energy storage system for an electric vehicle is always difficult, since many conditionings must be taken into account. Sometimes, this study can be made by means of complex mathematical models which represent the behavior of a battery, ultracapacitor or some other devices. However, these models are usually too dependent on parameters that are not easily available, which usually results in nonrealistic results. Besides, the more accurate the model, the more specific it needs to be, which becomes an issue when comparing systems of different nature. This paper proposes a practical methodology to compare different energy storage technologies. This is done by means of a linear approach of an equivalent circuit based on laboratory tests. Via these tests, the internal resistance and the self-discharge rate are evaluated, making it possible to compare different energy storage systems regardless their technology. Rather simple testing equipment is sufficient to give a comparative idea of the differences between each system, concerning issues such as efficiency, heating and self-discharge, when operating under a certain scenario. The proposed methodology is applied to four energy storage systems of different nature for the sake of illustration.

Experimental evaluation of a portable energy absorbing system for highway service vehicles. Final report for phase II.

Connecticut Department of Transportation, Bureau of Planning and Research, Wethersfield

Experimental evaluation of a portable energy absorbing system for highway service vehicles. Final report for phase I.

Connecticut Department of Transportation, Bureau of Planning and Research, Wethersfield

An experimental investigation of the unsteady aerodynamics of passing highway vehicles. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

An experimental investigation of the unsteady aerodynamics of passing highway vehicles. Final summary.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

International technical conference on experimental safety vehicles. Thirteenth. Proceedings. Volume I.

Mode of access: Internet.

International technical conference on experimental safety vehicles. Thirteenth. Proceedings. Volume II.

Mode of access: Internet.

Seventh International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles.

Mode of access: Internet.

Fifth International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles /

Mode of access: Internet.

Use of Probe Vehicles to Increase Traffic Estimation Accuracy in Brisbane

Traffic congestion is an increasing problem with high costs in financial, social and personal terms. These costs include psychological and physiological stress, aggressivity and fatigue caused by lengthy delays, and increased likelihood of road crashes. Reliable and accurate traffic information is essential for the development of traffic control and management strategies. Traffic information is mostly gathered from in-road vehicle detectors such as induction loops. Traffic Message Chanel (TMC) service is popular service which wirelessly send traffic information to drivers. Traffic probes have been used in many cities to increase traffic information accuracy. A simulation to estimate the number of probe vehicles required to increase the accuracy of traffic information in Brisbane is proposed. A meso level traffic simulator has been developed to facilitate the identification of the optimal number of probe vehicles required to achieve an acceptable level of traffic reporting accuracy. Our approach to determine the optimal number of probe vehicles required to meet quality of service requirements, is to simulate runs with varying numbers of traffic probes. The simulated traffic represents Brisbane’s typical morning traffic. The road maps used in simulation are Brisbane’s TMC maps complete with speed limits and traffic lights. Experimental results show that that the optimal number of probe vehicles required for providing a useful supplement to TMC (induction loop) data lies between 0.5% and 2.5% of vehicles on the road. With less probes than 0.25%, little additional information is provided, while for more probes than 5%, there is only a negligible affect on accuracy for increasingly many probes on the road. Our findings are consistent with on-going research work on traffic probes, and show the effectiveness of using probe vehicles to supplement induction loops for accurate and timely traffic information.