Search results for "ROV"
showing 10 items of 5770 documents
How is the Driver's Workload Influenced by the Road Environment?
2017
Abstract This paper focuses on the study of the driver's workload while driving on a rural two-lane road with different traffic flows. The aim of the research is to examine a parameter that could be representative of the driving effort, quite sensible to the external factors that cause disturbance to the regular driving activity. To solve this problem, the authors used a specific instrumented vehicle for monitoring some physiological parameters of the driver (as the eye movements and the Galvanic Skin Resistance), referring their values to the road context. The results are very interesting and confirm that knowing the workload is useful to improve the road safety only if it is related to th…
Are we correctly measuring the rotational viscosity of heterogeneous bituminous binders?
2020
Modified bituminous binders allow asphalt technologists to design asphalt mixtures with superior performance. However, several recent studies highlighted that due to the complexity of these material, their characterisation can be challenging since common procedures used to characterise neat bitumen might not be adequate. For instance, during high temperature rotational viscosity testing of recycled tyre rubber modified binders (RTR-MB), a number of changes may occur to the sample leading to the here-defined sample stability which in turn provides misleading results. In this study the authors want to first provide a deeper understanding of this phenomenon by a numerical analysis using a besp…
Reclaimed asphalt binders and mortars fatigue behaviour
2017
Fatigue cracking is one of the most important failure mechanisms occurring in asphalt pavements, especially when mixtures incorporate considerable amount of rReclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). In fact, aged binders contained in RAP generally make asphalt more brittle and specifically reduce fatigue resistance of the resulting asphalt mixtures. Binders and mortars play a key role in this phenomenon, considering fatigue cracking usually starts within these asphalt components. However, performance-related tests and specifications commonly regard binders and there are no sound methodologies allowing the use of mortars to predicting fatigue performance of asphalts containing RAP. For this reason,…
Microstructure and shear strength evolution of a lime-treated clay for use in road construction
2020
The results of a comprehensive experimental programme are presented for assessing the long-term microstructural modifications and evaluating the effects of microstructural rearrangement on the stress–strain behaviour of a lime-treated high-plasticity clay for road embankments. The stress–strain behaviour at different lime content and curing time was investigated by means of direct shear tests; microstructural analyses were carried out combining Scanning Electron Microscope observations and Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry tests. The results show that the stress–strain behaviour of treated clay is strongly dilatant with a high peak of strength, which increases with time and lime content. Furthe…
Gap-accepteance parameters for roundabouts: a systematic review
2015
Purpose The critical and follow-up headways are the two gap-acceptance parameters which explain the traffic interaction of a minor street vehicle when enters the roundabout, merging into or crossing one or more circulating (major) streams.Severalstudiesandresearchesprovidemeasurements of critical and follow-up headways from real data at roundabouts. The objective of our research is to synthesize the data from the series of selected studies to interpret variation across the studies. Methods In order to match the research goal, a systematic literaturereviewonestimationsofcriticalandfollow-upheadways at roundabouts was undertaken. Since several studies andresearchesdevelopedworldwidewereexamin…
Using Genetic Algorithms for Optimizing the PPC in the Highway Horizontal Alignment Design.
2016
Various studies have emphasized the interesting advantages related to the use of new transition curves for improving the geometric design of highway horizontal alignments. In a previous paper, one of the writers proposed a polynomial curve, called a polynomial parametric curve (PPC), proving its efficiency in solving several design problems characterized by a very complex geometry (egg-shaped transition, transition between reversing circular curves, semidirect and inner-loop connections, and so on). The PPC also showed considerable advantages from a dynamic perspective, as evidenced by the analysis of the main dynamic variables related to motion (as well as rate of change of radial accelera…
Using a hazard-independent approach to understand road-network robustness to multiple disruption scenarios
2021
Abstract A range of predictable and unpredictable events can cause road perturbations, disrupting traffic flows and more generally the functioning of society. To manage this threat, stakeholders need to understand the potential impact of a multitude of predictable and unpredictable events. The present paper adopts a hazard-independent approach to assess the robustness (ability to maintain functionality despite disturbances) of the Sioux Falls network to all possible disruptions. This approach allows understanding the impact of a wide range of disruptive events, including random, localised, and targeted link failures. The paper also investigates the predictability of the link combinations wh…
Surrogate Measures of Safety at Roundabouts in AIMSUN and VISSIM Environment
2018
This paper addresses issues on road safety analysis through microscopic traffic simulation models. The Surrogate Safety Assessment Model (SSAM) was applied to read vehicle trajectory files generated by two micro-simulators and then calculate surrogate measures of safety. Since safety assessment of any road entity can provide different results based on the micro-simulator which is used, the main objective of this research was to estimate the safety performance of three roundabout layouts and compare the conflict events simulated by AIMSUN and VISSIM. The two micro-simulators were used to build the calibrated models of the roundabouts, each fitting the corresponding empirical capacity functio…
Performance of a sustainable asphalt mix incorporating high RAP content and novel bio-derived binder
2019
The recent drive to find ways to increase sustainability and decrease costs in asphalt paving has led researchers to find innovative ways to incorporate more recycled materials and bio-derived binders into mixes with varying success. A new novel bio-derived binder made from refined pine chemistry stabilised with a polymer can increase the sustainability of asphalt mixes while maintaining pavement performance. Laboratory performance testing was conducted on asphalt mixes containing 50% Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) by mix weight and the novel bio-derived binder. Results show that the bio-derived binder outperforms the conventional 50/70 pen grade binder mixes with respect to resistance to…
Analysis of Kinematic Parameters and Driver Behavior at Turbo Roundabouts
2018
This study focuses on both vehicle kinematic parameters (speed and acceleration) and behavior parameters (critical interval and follow-up time) of drivers at turbo-roundabouts. Empirical evaluations of such parameters can be helpful in calibrating traffic microsimulation models or assigning behavior parameters to closed-form capacity models in turbo-roundabouts (gap-acceptance capacity models) and are also related to evaluation of vehicles pollutant emissions. The research was based on traffic process observed in the first turbo-roundabout implemented in the city of Maribor in Slovenia. In 2016 a great number of traffic samples were taken with high-frame-rate video recordings [>50 frames pe…