An analysis method for correlation between catenary irregularities and pantograph-catenary contact force

Pantograph-catenary contact force provides the main basis for evaluation of current quality collection; however, the pantograph-catenary contact force is largely affected by the catenary irregularities. To analyze the correlated relationship between catenary irregularities and pantograph-catenary contact force, a method based on nonlinear auto-regressive with exogenous input （NARX） neural networks was developed. First, to collect the test data of catenary irregularities and contact force, the pantograph/catenary dynamics model was established and dynamic simulation was conducted using MATLAB/Simulink. Second, catenary irregularities were used as the input to NARX neural network and the contact force was determined as output of the NARX neural network, in which the neural network was trained by an improved training mechanism based on the regularization algorithm. The simulation results show that the testing error and correlation coefficient are 0.1100 and 0.8029, respectively, and the prediction accuracy is satisfactory. And the comparisons with other algorithms indicate the validity and superiority of the proposed approach.     

Ride comfort optimization of a city bus

Ride comfort optimization of a city bus is considered in this article, using stiffness and related damping of the power unit mounts as design variables. The response of the bus, due to road irregularities, is calculated in the time domain by using a finite element (FE) model describing the complete vehicle. The body of the bus is condensed, using a substructuring technique, in order to reduce the simulation times. Operational deflection shapes (ODS) have been used to compare measured and calculated vibrations and some corrections of the FE model have been done. The response, i.e. acceleration, at three locations in the bus has been frequency-weighted according to the comfort standard ISO 2631:1997. The resulting root mean square (RMS) values of these responses are then used in the objective functions in the optimization procedure. The computational results show that it is possible to increase the ride comfort. However, the improvement of the ride comfort is probably too small to have a substantial subjective impact on the passenger in the bus. The results show that the objective function, regarding the overall ride comfort in the bus, has local optima. Received October 10, 1999     

Probability of the critical state of glue joints of a shallow laminated shell with random irregularities

Relations have been obtained for the determination of the probability of the dangerous (critical) state of the glue joints of a shallow laminated shell in the case of the presence of initial irregularities of the elastic plies with known probabilistic characteristics. An example of calculation of the probability of the critical state of the glue joint of a two-ply shell with known mathematical expectation and correlation function of random initial deflection of the upper ply is considered. __________ Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 1, pp. 138–149, January–February, 2006.     

Bending and Stability of a Glued Curvilinear Rod with Initial Irregularities

A differential equation has been derived for the bending of a glued curvilinear rod with initial deflections of its elements. Adhesive joints work in shear. The 2D stability, collapse and buckling are investigated for a jointed rod, and the formulas are derived to determine the critical values of its element parameters. Some separate cases are considered and examples are given. __________ Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 6, pp. 114 – 123, November – December, 2005.     

Urban rail track condition monitoring based on in-service vehicle acceleration measurements

Condition monitoring of railway tracks is essential in ensuring the safety of railway systems. Traditional track recording vehicles (TRV) can only carry out the track inspection in the midnight after all the service vehicles are off duty. One track line can be inspected only once or less in a month. The severe track condition degradation cannot be detected timely and there is potential safety hazard for the railway system. Therefore, the track condition monitoring based on in-service vehicle has been paid more attention in the recent years. In this paper, the track condition monitoring based on the bogie and car body acceleration measurements is presented. The track alignment information which can be derived from the bogie and car body sensor is investigated by using a mathematical model and the frequency response analysis. The track irregularities can be estimated by using the bogie and the car body acceleration sensors. The acceleration signals are preprocessing with a DC filter and a low pass filter. After that, the track alignments are obtained by double integrating the signals. Field tests are carried out in Shang Hai metro Line 1 for demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed track inspection system.     

Heating frequency optimization for artificial field-aligned scattering

In this study, we present a simulation study of artificial field-aligned irregularities (AFAI) to calculate the scattering coefficient considering a Gaussian autocorrelation function for the wave number spectrum of the density fluctuation. By analyzing variations in the scattering coefficient under different ionospheric backgrounds, the optimal range of the heating frequency was found, which is about 0.9–1 times the critical frequency of the F2 layer. This is especially noticeable as when the heating frequency varies from 0.5 times to 0.9 times of the critical frequency, the scattering coefficient increases by 6.8–16.2 dB. These results should be useful for optimizing the heating frequency in the future artificial field-aligned scattering (AFAS) transmission applications at middle and low latitudes.     

钢筋混凝土框架结构竖向不规则参数的概率评估

采用蒙特卡罗模拟方法分析钢筋混凝土(RC)框架结构竖向不规则参数的抗震控制效果。以底层和中间层竖向楼层承载力和刚度不规则的5层和10层RC框架结构为分析对象,考虑地震动输入的随机性,通过非线性动力时程分析确定结构的最大层间位移角,并分析其随竖向不规则系数变化的规律和超越极限状态水准的失效概率。分析结果表明：楼层竖向承载力和刚度不规则对结构最大层间位移角的影响较大,最大层间位移角随竖向不规则系数的减小而增大,底层不规则较中间层不规则的影响大,承载力不规则较刚度不规则的影响大;竖向不规则对结构地震反应超越极限状态水准的失效概率有显著的影响,失效概率随竖向不规则系数的减小而增大,竖向不规则系数越小失效概率越大;承载力不规则系数为0.7和刚度不规则系数为0.8可作为竖向不规则参数的抗震控制点。     

Hydraulic reliability in parallel elements subject to nonstationary operating regimes in straight-through boilers

Development of hydraulic irregularities is examined in the steam-generating parallel elements of straight-through boilers. Factors determining the potential for a crisis reduction in flow rate to the heating surfaces are established for nonstationary regimes. __________ Translated from élektricheskie Stantsii, No. 8, pp. 35–37, August, 2006.     

Structure-Related Optical Characteristics of Thin Metallic Films in the Visible and Ultraviolet

Surface irregularities and crystalline order strongly influence both the scattered light and absorption of metallic films. These effects extend through all spectral regions but are particularly important in the visible and ultraviolet. Scattered light arises from several scattering mechanisms. Macroscopic irregularities such as dust, scratches and particulates are typically much less important than are microirregularities only a few tens of angstroms in height but covering the entire surface. For metals such as silver and aluminum, which have plasma edges in the ultraviolet, the excitation of surface plasmons resulting from these microirregularities causes additional incoherently reemitted or “scattered” light. Surface plasmon excitation also causes increased absorption in some wavelength regions. These effects are enhanced by dielectric overcoating layers, which both increase the absorption and scattering and shift the wavelength at which the peak occurs. Surface plasmon excitation is particularly important in the ultraviolet region, where the dielectric overcoating applied to prevent formation of an oxide film on aluminized mirrors, for example, can significantly change the mirror reflectance. Plasmon excitation is made possible by a momentum conserving process associated with material inhomogeneities and hence can presumably be caused by crystalline disorder in the metal surface as well as surface irregularities. If the disorder is present on a sufficiently fine scale, it also affects the band structure of the metal and hence its optical absorption. Examples of the effect of film structure on the optical properties of evaporated and sputtered metal films will be given.