Search results for "Structural engineering"
showing 10 items of 1998 documents
An analysis of model predictive control with integral action applied to digital displacement cylinders
2020
This article aims to analyze Model Predictive Control (MPC) for the control of multi-chamber cylinders. MPC with and without integral action has been introduced. Three different algorithms have been used to solve the optimization problem in the MPC. The different algorithms have been compared with an industrial solver. The influence of changing mass, choosing a different middle line pressure, system delays, signal noise, velocity estimation, and changing pressure levels has been investigated. It is concluded that for the small prediction horizon used in the paper a simple algorithm such as A can produce results as good as the previously used Differential Evolution algorithm in less than hal…
Refining distraction potential testing guidelines by considering differences in glancing behavior
2021
Driver distraction is a recognized cause of traffic accidents. Although the well-known guidelines for measuring distraction of secondary in-car tasks were published by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 2013, studies have raised concerns on the accuracy of the method defined in the guidelines, namely criticizing them for basing the diversity of the driver sample on driver age, and for inconsistent between-group results. In fact, it was recently discovered that the NHTSA driving simulator test is susceptible to rather fortuitous results when the participant sample is randomized. This suggests that the results of said test are highly dependent on the s…
Drivers of CO2 emissions in the former Soviet Union: A country level IPAT analysis from 1990 to 2010
2013
There are a small number of countries that have managed to decrease emissions over the last two decades e most of them emerged from the FSU (former Soviet Union ). CO2 emissions for these countries combined have decreased by 35% between 1990 and 2010, while global emissions increased by 44%. Most studies investigate the FSU as a single block ignoring the significant and persistent diversity among countries in the region. This study is the first providing detailed country by country analyses determining factors for changes in post-Soviet republics by applying a disaggregated version of the commonly used (IPAT) index decomposition analysis including energy intensity, affluence industrializati…
Validation of the F-DBQ: A short (and accurate) risky driving behavior questionnaire for long-haul professional drivers
2021
Abstract Although the Driving Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) remains the most known tool for assessing risky road behaviors among motor vehicle drivers, recent studies have raised several concerns on the specificity of both driving task conditions and behavioral repertory of certain segments of the driving population. Among them, long-haul (cargo) professional drivers constitute one of the “intensive driving” groups for which the existing adapted behavioral research tools are still very scarce. Purpose The aim of the present study was to test and validate the F-DBQ (or “Freight Driving Behavior Questionnaire”), a short version of the DBQ adapted to the occupational driving conditions and typi…
Validation of the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory (MDSI) in professional drivers: How does it work in transportation workers?
2019
Abstract The Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory or MDSI constitutes, perhaps, the most relevant tool for measuring driving styles. Since its releasing in 2004, it has been applied worldwide to different samples of drivers, showing an important value and utility for road safety. However, empirical studies using the MDSI on professional drivers are scarce and, to the date, there is no validated version of the instrument in this workforce yet. Objectives: This study had two aims. First, to describe in detail the validation of the Taubman-Ben-Ari’s MDSI among professional drivers and, second, to test its convergent validity with other key relevant factors present in the work environment o…
Towards a resilience management guideline — Cities as a starting point for societal resilience
2019
Unexpected crises and risks affect the urban population. Critical infrastructure dependency, climate change and social dynamics have captured the attention of city decision makers across different disciplines, sectors, and scales. Addressing these challenges mandates an increase in resilience. This article presents the development of the novel European Resilience Management Guideline (ERMG) developed by the European H2020 Smart Mature Resilience (SMR) project. It encompasses five supporting tools for city resilience. The purpose of this article is threefold. First, it describes the extensive co-creation methods used to establish, validate and test the five ERMG tools as collaborations among…
Generalized curved beam on elastic foundation solved by Transfer Matrix Method
2011
A solution of space curved bars with generalized Winkler soil found by means of Transfer Matrix Method is presented. Distributed, concentrated loads and imposed strains are applied to the beam as well as rigid or elastic boundaries are considered at the ends. The proposed approach gives the analytical and numerical exact solution for circular beams and rings, loaded in the plane or perpendicular to it. A well-approximated solution can be found for general space curved bars with complex geometry. Elastic foundation is characterized by six parameters of stiffness in different directions: three for rectilinear springs and three for rotational springs. The beam has axial, shear, bending and tor…
Computational procedures for plastic shakedown design of structures
2004
The minimum volume design problem of elastic perfectly plastic finite element structures subjected to a combination of fixed and perfect cyclic loads is studied. The design problem is formulated in such a way that incremental collapse is certainly prevented. The search for the structural design with the required limit behaviour is effected following two different formulations, both developed on the grounds of a statical approach: the first one operates below the elastic shakedown limit and is able to provide a suboptimal design; the second one operates above the elastic shakedown limit and is able to provide the/an optimal design. The Kuhn–Tucker conditions of the two problems provide usefu…
Bounds on plastic strains for elastic plastic structures in plastic shakedown conditions
2007
The problem related to the computation of bounds on plastic deformations for structures in plastic shakedown condition (alternating plasticity) is studied. In particular, reference is made to structures discretized by finite elements constituted by elastic perfectly plastic material and subjected to a special combination of fixed and cyclic loads. The load history is known during the steady-state phase, but it is unknown during the previous transient phase; so, as a consequence, it is not possible to know the complete elastic plastic structural response. The interest is therefore focused on the computation of bounds on suitable measures of the plastic strain which characterizes just the fir…
A Top-Down Approach Based on the Circularity Potential to Increase the Use of Reclaimed Asphalt
2023
Resource depletion and climate change, amongst others, are increasingly worrying environmental challenges for which the road engineering sector is a major contributor. Globally, viable solutions that comply with the principles of circular economy (CE) are being investigated that can replace conventional asphalt mixtures in a post-fossil fuel society. The use of reclaimed asphalt (RA) is a widely used and well-established method to reduce the environmental and economic impacts of asphalt mixtures while increasing their circularity. However, RA’s market supply and demand have not yet been systematically analyzed and established. Moreover, the actual circularity potential and the opportu…