Congestion pricing of multi-modal transportation systems

This paper deals with the pricing and investment decision problem of multi-modal transportation systems in which the congestion is a significant factor in the assessment of system costs. This study approaches this congestion pricing problem with a number of social welfare maximization problems, all of which have the identical structure except financial constraints. One welfare maximization problem examined in this study yields the pricing and investment decision, which can attain the first-best social optimality for multi-modal transportation systems. Other welfare maximization problems show he second-best optimal solutions that can address two policy questions in transportation economics, namely, the cross-subsidy between competing modes and peak-period congestion charges on a single highway link. Received: February 2001/Accepted: December 2001 This work was supported in part by funds from BK21 Research Division of Seoul National University for Social Infrastructure and Construction Technology.     

Experimental measurements of gold nanoparticle nucleation and growth by citrate reduction of HAuCl4

Gold particle nucleation and growth were analyzed systematically by UV–vis, ELS and TEM measurements. The gold seed particles ranging from 14.3 nm to 20.3 nm were prepared with monodisperse size distribution by citrate reduction reaction of various initial HAuCl₄ concentrations. Gold nanoparticles of different sizes were made by the seed-mediated growth process. In the first stage of seed-mediated growth, most of gold precursors were used for the growth of seed particles, but, further supply of gold precursors promotes the nucleation of small particles and decreases the average particle diameters while the polydispersity of particles increases. This research can be used as basic data to prepare gold nanoparticles with specific properties for different applications.     

Synthesis and structural properties of lithium titanium oxide powder as-synthesized by two step calcination process

A two-step calcination synthesis, considering the potential for mass production, of lithium titanium oxide powder was carried out to fabricate a single Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ phase, which is useful for anode electrode material of Li-based rechargeable battery as well as an electrode for supercapacitor. The final composition is controlled by adding more TiO₂ powder into powder gained at one calcination process during the two calcination process. We investigated the influence of excess TiO₂ on the structural characteristics of lithium titanium oxide synthesized by the two-step calcination method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) measurements showed that the as-synthesized powder had a spinel crystal structure as well as A composition of 4: 5: 12. In addition, a high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) analysis revealed that the fabricated powder exhibited a single crystalline phase formation. These results indicated that the powder synthesized in the one-step calcination process showed coexistence crystalline phases, which are the Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ and Li_2.39Ti_3.4O₈ phase. However, in the two-step calcination process, the powder synthesized showed the single crystalline Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ phase. A very uniform grain size of the as-synthesized powder was shown in a field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). These results suggested that the two-step calcination process can be used for synthesis of single crystalline Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ powder with uniform grain shape and provide motivation to pursue mass production of lithium titanium based oxide powder for bulk type batteries.     

Cost functions for multiple transportation modes in the presence of congestion

This paper introduces an alternative way of specifying the social cost function for transportation services. This paper formulates the transportation cost function as a social cost minimization problem in the presence of congestion phenomena. This social cost function has an advantage in terms of assessing the cost structure of various transportation modes in a unified manner. In addition, the social cost function has a structure that can yield precise information about the structures of other cost functions such as a marginal social cost function and a marginal supplier cost function. This paper illustrates those advantages with the analysis to derive the specific expressions of the various cost functions for highway uses, and for public transit services. Especially, this analysis pinpoints on identifying the difference in the structures of cost functions for the two modes. Received: February 2001/Accepted: December 2001     

Effects of fiber aspect ratio, fiber content, and bonding agent on tensile and tear properties of short-fiber reinforced rubber

Both tensile and tear properties of short-fiber reinforced Chloroprene rubber have been studied as functions of the fiber aspect ratio and fiber content. Both properties increased when both the fiber aspect ratio and fiber content were increased. The fiber reinforced rubbers exhibited maximum values of these properties at a fiber aspect ratio of about 300. When the fiber aspect ratio exceeds 400, the mechanical properties decreased with the fiber content because of the non-uniform dispersion of fibers. The tensile modulus was compared with the prediction by the Halpin-Tsai equations for randomly oriented cases. A bonding agent was used in the fiber treating process. It was found that the ultimate tensile strength, torque, tearing energy and tensile modulus of the rubbers with treated fibers were much higher than those with untreated ones.     

Stimulation of densification during the reduction of U3O8 to UO2 by atmosphere control

A reduction process in the head-end for pyroprocessing has been adopted to avoid oxidation attack on the molybdenum crucible during sintering. The reduction process is employed to reduce U₃O₈ pellets to UO₂ prior to sintering. This allows elimination of the oxygen source, which causes oxidation attack during sintering, thereby permitting the use of a metallic crucible. However, little densification occurs due to the low reduction temperature limited by the INCONEL crucible. Consequently, the amount of material scraps from the pellets increases, thus creating an additional processing burden due to its high radioactivity. To reduce the amount of scraps, densification should be enhanced. This study suggests a simple atmospheric control strategy and clarifies its effects. With the atmospheric control, a higher bulk density and better attrition resistance were obtained in comparison to without this strategy. This can be explained in terms of O/U ratio dependent diffusion kinetics during the reduction of U₃O₈ to UO₂.     

Cobalt(II)-Centered Fluorinated Phthalocyanine-Sulfur SNAr Chemistry for Robust Lithium–Sulfur Batteries with Superior Conversion Kinetics

Due to the exceptional theoretical energy density and low cost of elemental sulfur, lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are spotlighted as promising post-lithium-ion batteries. Despite these advantages, the performance of Li–S batteries would need to be improved further for their wide dissemination in practical applications. Here, cobalt(II)-centered fluorinated phthalocyanine, namely, F-Co(II)Pc, is reported as a multi-functional component for sulfur cathodes with the following benefits: 1) enhanced conversion kinetics as a result of the catalytic effect of the cobalt(II) center, 2) efficient sulfur linkage via the fluorine functionality, which undergoes a nucleophilic aromatic substitution (S_NAr) reaction, 3) suppression of the shuttling issue by the nitrogen atoms because of their strong affinity with polysulfides, and 4) the necessary aromaticity to engage in π–π interaction with reduced graphene oxide for electrical conductivity. The resulting electrode has promising electrochemical properties, such as sustainable cycling for 700 cycles and robust operation with a sulfur loading of 12 mg_sulfur cm⁻², unveiling the promising nature of phthalocyanine and its related molecular families for advanced Li–S batteries.     

Nanoporous Ti-metal film deposition using radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique for photovoltaic application

Nanoporous Ti-metal film electrode was fabricated by radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering technique on nanoporous TiO2 layer prepared by sol-gel combustion method and investigated with respect to its photo-anode properties of TCO-less DSCs. The porous Ti layer (approximately 1 microm) with low sheet resistance (approximately 17 Omega/sq.) can collect electrons from the TiO2 layer and allows the ionic diffusion of I(-)/I(3-) through the hole. The porous Ti layer with highly ordered columnar structure prepared by 8 mTorr sputtering shows the good impedance characteristics. The efficiency of prepared TCO-less DSCs sample is about 4.83% (ff: 0.6, Voc: 0.65 V, Jsc: 11.2 mA/cm2).     

Safety evaluation of composites with a wrinkled fabric preform under bending

Wrinkled fabrics in the preform exert significant influence on the qualities of resin transfer molded composites (RTMCs). The bending properties of composites with wrinkled fabrics were studied using several wrinkled models with different wrinkled lengths and numbers of fabric plies, as well as three different matrices and four different loading rates. It was found that the measured bending properties with a strong matrix are less sensitive to wrinkling than those with a weak matrix. The bending moduli of a composite with wrinkled fabric preform are larger than those of a composite with a non-wrinkled fabric preform even under the same effective fiber volume fraction (V_f^￠ V_{\rm f}^{\prime} ) when the composite is loaded in the middle of the wrinkled region. The bending strengths of the wrinkled models are lower in low V_f^￠ V_{\rm f}^{\prime} and higher in high V_f^￠ V_{\rm f}^{\prime} than those of a perfect sample. Also, the bending strengths indicate two failure mechanisms as a function of the ratio of the wrinkled length to the span length (L _W/L). Based on the experimental data, safe strength conditions of the wrinkled models that are better than those of a perfect sample are suggested under three-point bending.     

A simple interpolation technique for the DFT for joint system parameters estimation in burst MPSK transmissions

In this paper, we propose a simple frequency-domain interpolation technique for the discrete Fourier transform (DFT). This interpolation technique can significantly improve the frequency and phase resolution capabilities of the DFT without increasing the size of the DFT (the number of points used for the DFT). This new technique employs a dividing point in the amplitude and phase spectra. Suitable areas of application include joint estimation of fine frequency and phase offsets in burst-mode digital transmission.