Search results for "Trailer"
showing 9 items of 9 documents
On the sway stability improvement of car–caravan systems by articulated connections
2015
The present analysis is addressed to some promising connection arrangements between the towing vehicles and the towed trailers, where the two units are linked by four-bar isosceles trapeziums in place of the conventional pintle hitch. Two types of instability, of the divergent type or the oscillating type, may be analysed by the Routh–Hurwitz criterion or by the direct analysis of the characteristic equation. The constant term of this equation vanishes at the divergent instability threshold (zero of a real root), whereas the equation splits into two lower degree algebraic ‘sub-equations’ when the oscillating instability arises (pair of pure imaginary roots). A large field of geometrical con…
Motion and force analysis of slow-speed multi-trailer systems
2018
Comparing with the tractor-trailer systems for the road haulage, which must cope with some typical undesired trends, such as high-speed instability, over- or under-steering and off-tracking, the multi-trailer systems for the transport of luggage in the airports or in the railway stations, or for the transfer of goods in the warehouses, run at quite low speeds, but must manage to steer clear of the many obstacles encountered along their path. This type of vehicle is not subject to tire cornering phenomena, because the speed is just low and the wheels are generally stiff. Hence, the vehicle movement is in practice ruled by the non-holonomic rolling constraint of the wheels and by the steerin…
Optimization of vehicle-trailer connection systems
2016
The three main requirements of a vehicle-trailer connection system are: en route stability, over- or under-steering restraint, minimum off-tracking along curved path. Linking the two units by four-bar trapeziums, wider stability margins may be attained in comparison with the conventional pintle-hitch for both instability types, divergent or oscillating. The stability maps are traced applying the Hurwitz method or the direct analysis of the characteristic equation at the instability threshold. Several types of four-bar linkages may be quickly tested, with the drawbars converging towards the trailer or the towing unit. The latter configuration appears preferable in terms of self-stability and…
Optimal Management of Human Resources in Transhipment Container Ports
2014
Human resources allocation plays a key role in Transhipment Maritime Container Terminals to achieve high levels of productivity and provide high quality services to shipping companies. The deep interest of container terminals in this issue can be supported by optimization methods. In this work, an optimization model is proposed to determine the optimal daily allocation of crane operators and trailer drivers. Different requirements are taken into account for permanent staff, external workers and personnel shortfall. Since workforce undermanning is a crucial factor for both shipping companies and container terminals, we aim to show that personnel shortfalls and operation delays can be signifi…
A Branch-and-Cut Algorithm for the Single Truck and Trailer Routing Problem with Satellite Depots
2016
International audience; In the single truck and trailer routing problem with satellite depots (STTRPSD), a truck with a detachable trailer based at a main depot must serve the demand of a set of customers accessible only by truck. Therefore, before serving the customers, it is necessary to detach the trailer in an appropriate parking place (called either a satellite depot or a trailer point) and transfer goods between the truck and the trailer. This problem has applications in milk collection for farms that cannot be reached using large vehicles. In this work we present an integer programming formulation of the STTRPSD. This formulation is tightened with several families of valid inequaliti…
Branch-and-Price-and-Cut for the Truck-and-Trailer Routing Problem with Time Windows
2018
In this paper, we present a new branch-and-price-and-cut algorithm to solve the truck-and-trailer routing problem with time windows (TTRPTW) and two real-world extensions. In all TTRPTW variants, the fleet consists of one or more trucks that may attach a trailer. Some customers are not accessible with a truck-and-trailer combination, but can however be serviced by one if the trailer is previously detached and parked at a suitable location. In the first extension, the planning horizon comprises two days and customers may be visited either on both days or only once, in which case twice the daily supply must be collected. The second extension incorporates load transfer times depending on the …
A new design approach to the use of composite materials for heavy transport vehicles
2007
In order to keep or to reach a high level of competitiveness and performance of a product, it is necessary to explore all the possible solutions that allow the best compromise between costs and project requirements. By this point of view the study of alternative designs and/or materials to use, is an important aspect that can identify a new concept or way of thinking about a product. This paper presents how to make use of composite materials in the field of heavy vehicles transportation. A new semitrailer in composite material has been designed, using a methodical redesign approach and an optimisation process. The main innovation in this project is, besides the use of the Glass Fibre Reinfo…
The Trailer as Erotic Capital. Gendered Performances—Research and Participant Roles during Festival Fieldwork
2019
This article examines different roles and field relations of the researcher in studies of young people at Christian festivals. The main questions are how the researcher gains access to the &ldquo