几种典型车辆在斜拉桥桥面行使的临界风速研究

研究强侧风作用下三种典型汽车在斜拉桥桥面行驶时的临界风速和车速。分析汽车运动方程的随动坐标特性和桥梁的侧向抖振对汽车相对桥面侧偏的影响,得到侧偏位移及速率的计算式,在以往基础上,研究了考虑车辆侧偏和驾驶员行为的风-车-桥空间耦合振动系统,完善了仿真分析程序的功能。以某斜拉桥为实例,分析三种典型车辆在桥面行使的临界风速。分析结果表明：采用控制重心还是前轮侧滑的驾驶员模型不显著影响桥面汽车临界风速的大小;不同类型汽车的事故原因可能不同,对于箱式货车,侧滑事故起控制作用,对于桑塔纳和一汽佳宝,车速高时,侧倾事故起控制作用,低车速时,侧滑事故起控制作用。     

桥梁风屏障的气动效应及其对高速列车运行安全的影响分析

基于风-车-桥系统动力分析模型,分析了风屏障对车桥系统气动效应及桥上高速行驶车辆运行安全性的影响。以新建兰新铁路百里风区跨度16 m简支槽形梁为工程背景,通过风洞试验测试了有、无风屏障时车辆、桥梁的三分力系数,然后对强侧风作用下车辆通过桥梁时的动力响应进行了数值模拟,综合分析得到了保证列车在桥上运行安全的风速-车速阈值曲线。结果表明,对未设置风屏障的桥梁,当风速超过15 m/s即应限速行驶;而设置风屏障后,桥上车辆的运行安全性指标得到了极大地改善,即使风速达到40 m/s,列车仍可以260 km/h的速度安全运行。     

考虑桥面风场等效气动效应的行车安全性分析

侧风作用下桥上通行车辆容易遭受行车安全问题。通过节段模型风洞试验,测试了主梁行车道位置上方一定高度范围内风场分布特性。基于车辆气动力和力矩等效的方法,采用等效风速和比例系数来考虑桥面气动绕流对车辆气动力特性的影响。在风-汽车-桥耦合振动研究的基础上,采用无量纲的侧倾和侧滑安全因子评价车辆的行车安全性,分析了风速和车速对不同类型车辆行车安全性的影响。结果表明:车辆的行车安全性随着风速和车速的增大而逐渐降低;桥面风场等效气动效应会降低集装箱车和旅行巴士的行车安全性,集装箱车RSF和SSF最大相对误差分别高达28.0%和184.3%。     

突变阵风对列车动力响应及行车安全性的影响

突变阵风因风速在短时内发生瞬时变化容易对高速列车的行车安全性造成威胁。根据一维多变量非平稳随机过程理论，模拟了空间相关的时变阵风脉动风速场。采用多体动力学软件SIMPACK和有限元分析软件ANSYS，建立了42自由度的刚性列车与柔性轨道-桥梁相互作用的刚柔耦合模型，考虑横风向时变阵风的影响，基于刚柔耦合法形成了较为完善的风-列车-轨道-桥梁耦合动力学分析系统。以大跨度拱桥为工程背景，分析了时变阵风在不同车速和风速下对列车和桥梁动力响应特性及行车安全性的影响。结果表明：阵风对桥梁和车辆的动力响应具有重要的影响；在相同条件下考虑阵风影响时，主跨跨中横向位移增幅达到了200%，车辆的轮重减载率、脱轨系数相比于不考虑阵风时增大近30%；在风速大于25 m/s，车速大于80 km/h，轮重减载率将超过安全限值，表明车辆可能发生脱轨。     

冰-车-桥系统耦合振动分析

为了研究桥梁结构在车辆和冰荷载共同作用下的振动反应,提出了冰-车-桥系统耦合动力分析框架。在该框架中,每辆车都被视为一个多自由度的运动系统,桥梁结构采用有限元方法进行建模,利用罚函数定义了车轮与桥面之间的接触关系,实现了各子系统之间的接触与交互作用。基于自激冰力模型得到了依赖于冰与结构相对速度的桥梁结构自激冰力,构建了冰-车-桥系统的耦合动力方程,进而开展了冰-车-桥系统耦合振动分析及行车安全评估。研究结果表明：桥梁竖向振动反应随车速的增加而增大,桥梁横向振动反应则受到了冰荷载的控制;车辆的竖向反应主要依赖于车-桥之间的相互作用力,车辆的横向反应则受冰与桥梁之间相互作用力的主导,车辆与桥梁的交互作用受到了车速和冰速的双重影响;快冰速会增大车辆的横向接触力,降低车辆的最小侧滑抗力,不利于行车安全;冰荷载作用下桥上车辆的前轴车轮比后轴车轮更容易发生侧滑;所提出的冰-车-桥系统耦合动力分析框架可为冰荷载作用下跨海桥梁的行车安全评估提供参考。     

风屏障对大跨度桁架桥风致振动及车辆风载荷的综合影响研究

为探究风屏障对大跨度桁架桥风致振动及车辆风载荷的综合影响,以某公铁两用桁架桥为背景,在XNJD-1号风洞中进行了1∶47.48的缩尺比节段模型试验,测试了无风屏障和设置不同风屏障方案时,车桥系统中车辆及桥梁各自的气动力系数、主梁的颤振临界风速以及主梁的涡振响应。结果表明:大跨度桥梁风屏障增加了车桥系统中主梁的阻力系数,降低了主梁的升力系数、车辆的阻力系数及升力系数。设置风屏障使主梁的颤振临界风速降低明显。风屏障在一定程度上可用作抑制主梁涡振的气动措施。     

大跨度公轨两用悬索桥风-车-桥耦合振动及抗风行车准则研究

将风、车、桥三者作为一个交互作用、协调工作的耦合动力系统,基于风-车-桥系统空间耦合分析模型,以一大跨度公轨两用悬索桥为例,采用自主研发的桥梁结构分析软件BANSYS(Bridge Analysis System)分析了风荷载作用下桥梁和车辆的动力响应,讨论了风速、车速及轨道交通布置方式等因素的影响;同时,基于合理的列车运行安全性和舒适性评价指标,对列车通过该桥时的走行安全性与舒适性进行了分析,得出了该悬索桥的抗风行车准则:当风速小于20m/s时,车速可达设计车速80km/h;当风速介于20m/s和25m/s之间时,车速不能大于60km/h;当风速大于25m/s时,应封闭轨道交通。     

横风和轨道不平顺联合作用下的车辆-轨道系统随机分析模型

视横风和轨道随机不平顺激扰下的车辆-轨道系统为随机非线性系统。依据车辆-轨道耦合动力学和随机分析理论,建立了用于横风、轨道随机不平顺联合分析的车辆-轨道系统随机分析模型。其中,横风由平均风和随机脉动风构成,考虑脉动风的空间相关性,采用谐波合成法模拟脉动风速,用Karhunen-Loève展开法把握脉动风的随机特征;采用轨道不平顺概率模型,生成轨道随机不平顺样本序列;通过将横风和轨道不平顺转化为相应的车辆-轨道系统荷载矢量,从而建立用于风-轨道不平顺联合分析的车辆-轨道随机分析模型。计算结果表明:横风对车辆、轨道系统的动力影响均十分显著。在本文给出的计算条件下,当横风标准风速达到15 m/s以上时,会逐步影响车辆的平稳舒适性,而当风速达到25m/s以上,行车安全受到严重威胁;此模型能够用于风环境下的车辆-轨道系统随机分析及可靠度计算。     

风荷载作用下大跨度悬索桥的动力响应及列车运行安全分析

建立了风-列车-桥梁体系动力分析模型,根据实测空气动力参数和颤振导数模拟产生抖振力和自激力时域随机风荷载作为输入激励,以一座大跨度悬索桥方案为例,分析了风作用下桥梁和车辆的动力响应。结果表明:悬索桥的横向、扭转位移由风力控制,竖向位移主要由列车重力加载引起。风对桥上列车的运行安全有很大影响:在平均风速为30~40m/s的脉动风作用下,车辆的轮重减载率、脱轨系数和倾覆系数超标,必须给予足够的重视。     

横向风对跨座式单轨车辆运行平稳性的影响

跨座式城市单轨交通车辆直线段运行时,横向风的作用将会严重影响运行的平稳性乃至安全性能。由此,首先对车辆行驶过程中的横向风作用载荷进行分析,运用ADAMS多体动力学仿真软件建立跨座式单轨车辆"车体—轮胎—轨道梁"耦合系统动力学模型,分别对不同横向风速及不同车速时车辆直线段运行平稳性进行仿真分析。仿真结果表明:在横向风条件下,车速和风速的变化对的跨座式单轨车辆横向加速度影响较大,并进一步影响车辆的运行平稳性。且当车速或风速过大时,车辆会发生失稳现象。分析的结论对于这种车辆的设计可提供一种警示作用。     

The effect of roundabout design features on cyclist accident rate

Roundabouts are known to result in fewer traffic accidents than traditional intersections. However, this is to a lesser degree true for bicycles than for vehicles. In this paper, we aimed at establishing statistical relationships through Poisson regression and logistic regression analyses between yearly rate of cyclist accidents on one hand and roundabout geometry, age and traffic volume (vehicles and cyclists) on the other. We related all roundabout cyclist accidents recorded by the hospital emergency department of the town of Odense, Denmark, through the years 1999-2003 (N=171) to various geometric features, age and traffic volume of all roundabouts on the Danish island of Funen (N=88). Cyclist and vehicle volumes turned out to be significant predictors in most of our models-the higher the volumes, the more accidents. Moreover, potential vehicle speed was a significant predictor, and so was age of the roundabout-older roundabouts related to more accidents and higher accident probability. Excluding 48 single cyclist accidents strengthened the relationship between accidents on one hand and vehicle and cyclist volume and potential vehicle speed on the other. This stresses the significance of speed and traffic volume for traffic accidents with more than one partner involved. The 48 single cyclist accidents were significantly related to the traffic volume of cyclists only. Due to our limited number of observations, the models should be regarded as indicative.     

横风作用下考虑车辆运动的车桥系统气动特性的数值模拟研究

车辆和桥梁气动力参数的准确识别是风-车-桥系统耦合振动研究的前提,目前大多数研究中通常忽略了车辆和桥梁间的相对运动。由于采用风洞试验测量手段研究此类问题存在一定困难,因此该文基于CFD数值仿真平台采用动网格技术模拟计算了横风作用下考虑车辆运动的车辆和桥梁气动特性,分析研究了风场的紊流特性、车辆的运动速度以及车桥的相互气动干扰对车辆和桥梁气动特性的影响。计算结果表明:车辆和桥梁的气动力特性受车辆的运动速度和车桥间的相互作用影响较大,风场的紊流特性对车辆和桥梁的气动力也有一定影响。最后通过对比分析单车、桥和车-桥耦合的流场压力和速度云图,探讨了车辆和桥梁气动力的相互作用机理。     

Traffic accident reduction by monitoring driver behaviour with in-car data recorders

People who are aware of being observed tend to modify their behaviour. This phenomenon could potentially be used to encourage individuals to behave more safely when driving if there were means of providing feedback to the drivers about their behaviour on the road. So-called 'vehicle data recorders' offer such a means of providing behavioural feedback by confronting drivers with their recorded driving actions. A field trial of a 'matched experimental/control group design with intervention' was planned with the objective of investigating whether this feedback mechanism would reduce the number of road traffic accidents in everyday driving conditions. In the study, seven experimental vehicle fleets were involved, which varied widely in terms of the kind of transport sector concerned, the type of vehicles used, and the traffic circumstances in which the vehicles are operated. Each fleet was matched with at least one control vehicle fleet, taking into account those relevant traffic safety characteristics. In total, accident and exposure data were collected for 840 vehicles of which 270 equipped with a recorder. During an observation period representing a total of about 3,100 vehicle years, these vehicles were involved in 1,836 road accidents. Analysis of the effects of the use of data recorders in these fleets resulted in an average estimated accident reduction of some 20%. The analysis shows that the actual savings vary depending on the transport sector involved and on the prior level of the fleet's safety record. Further studies are needed to identify the more promising application of such a use of traffic data recorders as a means of reducing road accidents.     

Risk factors affecting the severity of single vehicle traffic accidents in Hong Kong

A population-based case-control study was conducted to examine factors affecting the severity of single vehicle traffic accidents in Hong Kong. In particular, single vehicle accident data of three major vehicle types, namely private vehicles, goods vehicles and motorcycles, which contributed to over 80% of all single vehicle accidents during the 2-year-period 1999-2000, were considered. Data were obtained from the newly implemented traffic accident data system (TRADS), which was developed jointly by the Transport Department, Police Force and Information Technology Services Department, Hong Kong. The effect of district, human, vehicle, safety, environmental and site factors on injury severity of an accident was examined. Unique risk factors associated with each of the vehicle types were identified by means of stepwise logistic regression models. For private vehicles, district board, gender of driver, age of vehicle, time of the accident and street light conditions are significant factors determining injury severity. For goods vehicles, seat-belt usage and weekday occurrence are the only two significant factors associated with injury severity. For motorcycles, age of vehicle, weekday and time of the accident were determined to be important factors affecting the injury severity. Identification of potential risk factors pertinent to the particular vehicle type has important implications to relevant official organisations in modifying safety measures in order to reduce the occurrence of severe traffic accidents, which would help to promote a safe road environment.     

Multiple-vehicle traffic accidents in Hong Kong

‘Multiple-vehicle traffic accident’ refers to a crash between two or more moving objects. Unlike single-vehicle accidents, not all drivers involving in a multiple-vehicle accident are responsible for the occurrence of the event. Accordingly, variables such as road type, speed limit and number of vehicles involved in the accident are expected to play a much more important role in association with injury severity in multiple-vehicle accidents. To study the factors influencing injury severity of multiple-vehicle traffic accidents, a population-based study was conducted. The traffic accident data was obtained from the Traffic Accident Data System (TRADS), which was developed by the Transport Department, Police Force and Information Technology Services Department, Hong Kong. Multiple-vehicle traffic accidents (N = 10,630) occurring during the 2-year period 1999/2000 were considered. Potential risk factors such as district, human, vehicle, safety, environmental and site factors were examined. Categorizing injury severity into “fatal/serious” and “slight”, a stepwise logistic regression model was applied to the population data set. The district board, time of the accident, driver's gender, vehicle type, road type, speed limit and the number of vehicles involved are significant factors influencing the injury severity. Identification of risk factors for severe traffic accidents provides valuable information to help with new and improved road safety control measures.     

Speed estimation of vehicles approaching an intersection: a digital image processing method

Abstract

Most severe car accidents that occur in urban environments involve side impacts at street intersections, even at those regulated with traffic lights. Hence, it is very common to implement a small delay since one road changes to red until the other road changes to green. This delay is intended to avoid accidents in which a vehicle decides to go through the intersection after the sequence green–yellow–red is started, underestimating the time required to overtake the intersection. A better approach is to adjust the delay dynamically, depending on the speed of the vehicles approaching to the intersection. Using the dynamic approach, it is possible to improve traffic flow by reducing unnecessary delays, and to improve safety by applying longer delays when needed. This paper proposes a speed estimation method based on digital image processing of pictures taken with wireless cameras installed on top of existing traffic lights. The algorithm finds a vehicle in two consecutive images (either in day or night condition) and computes its speed by correlation. When a traffic light turns red, the systems estimates the speed of the cars approaching and decides to change the other road to green immediately, or to wait until it is safe to do so. The system was tested with real traffic flow at a street located in the city of Talavera de la Reina, Spain, with vehicles at different speeds. The image processing method proved to be accurate for this application, and adding the advantage of low cost equipment and easy installation results in a very attractive solution.     

Judgments of approach speed for motorcycles across different lighting levels and the effect of an improved tri-headlight configuration

The misperception of vehicle approach speed is a key contributory factor to road traffic crash involvement. Past research has indicated that individuals use the rate of visual looming to calculate the time to passage (TTP) of a vehicle, and that smaller vehicles loom to a lesser extent than larger vehicles. Despite a disproportionate number of fatal injuries occurring on the road after dark, and a higher than average number of accidents involving automobile drivers violating the right of way of a motorcyclist occurring in low light conditions, there has been very little consideration of the accuracy of TTP for smaller and larger vehicles under low levels of luminance. We investigated drivers’ judgments of motorcycle and car approach speeds across a number of levels of luminance within a virtual city scene, as well as the effectiveness of a tri-headlight formation on motorcycle speed judgments. The accuracy of car approach speed judgments were not affected by changes in lighting conditions, but speed judgments for the solo headlight motorcycle became significantly less accurate as lighting reduced in the early night and night-time conditions. Incorporation of a tri-headlight formation onto the standard motorcycle frame resulted in improved accuracy of approach speed judgments, relative to the solo headlight motorcycle, as ambient light levels reduced. The practical implications of the findings are discussed in terms of road safety and motorcycle design.     

Multi-scale traffic safety and operational performance study of large trucks on mountainous interstate highway

In addition to multi-vehicle accidents, large trucks are also prone to single-vehicle accidents on the mountainous interstate highways due to the complex terrain and fast-changing weather. By integrating both historical data analysis and simulations, a multi-scale approach is developed to evaluate the traffic safety and operational performance of large trucks on mountainous interstate highways in both scales of individual vehicle as well as traffic on the whole highway. A typical mountainous highway in Colorado is studied for demonstration purposes. Firstly, the ten-year historical accident records are analyzed to identify the accident-vulnerable-locations (AVLs) and site-specific critical adverse driving conditions. Secondly, simulation-based single-vehicle assessment is performed for different driving conditions at those AVLs along the whole corridor. Finally, the cellular-automaton (CA)-based simulation is carried out to evaluate the multi-vehicle traffic safety as well as the operational performance of the traffic by considering the actual speed limits, including the differential speed limits (DSL) at some locations. It is found that the multi-scale approach can provide insightful and comprehensive observations of the highway performance, which is especially important for mountainous highways.