Reducing the risk of rear-end collisions with infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) integration of variable speed limit control and adaptive cruise control system

Objective: Adaptive cruise control (ACC) has been investigated recently to explore ways to increase traffic capacity, stabilize traffic flow, and improve traffic safety. However, researchers seldom have studied the integration of ACC and roadside control methods such as the variable speed limit (VSL) to improve safety. The primary objective of this study was to develop an infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) integrated system that incorporated both ACC and VSL to reduce rear-end collision risks on freeways.

Methods: The intelligent driver model was firstly modified to simulate ACC behavior and then the VSL strategy used in this article was introduced. Next, the I2V system was proposed to integrate the 2 advanced techniques, ACC and VSL. Four scenarios of no control, VSL only, ACC only, and the I2V system were tested in simulation experiments. Time exposed time to collision (TET) and time integrated time to collision (TIT), 2 surrogate safety measures derived from time to collision (TTC), were used to evaluate safety issues associated with rear-end collisions. The total travel times of each scenario were also compared.

Results: The simulation results indicated that both the VSL-only and ACC-only methods had a positive impact on reducing the TET and TIT values (reduced by 53.0 and 58.6% and 59.0 and 65.3%, respectively). The I2V system combined the advantages of both ACC and VSL to achieve the most safety benefits (reduced by 71.5 and 77.3%, respectively). Sensitivity analysis of the TTC threshold also showed that the I2V system obtained the largest safety benefits with all of the TTC threshold values. The impact of different market penetration rates of ACC vehicles in I2V system indicated that safety benefits increase with an increase in ACC proportions.

Conclusions: Compared to VSL-only and ACC-only scenarios, this integrated I2V system is more effective in reducing rear-end collision risks. The findings of this study provide useful information for traffic agencies to implement novel techniques to improve safety on freeways.     

Application of human factors evaluation in engineering design and safe operation of dense phase ethylene treaters

Ethylene treaters are widely used in the petrochemical industry to remove impurities from ethylene feedstock imported from pipeline networks or storage caverns. The safety concerns of dense phase ethylene treaters due to the reactive and highly flammable nature of ethylene are well known and studied. Under certain conditions, ethylene may self-polymerize and decompose violently with heat release. Under other conditions, ethylene will auto-refrigerate, generating cold liquids that may cause potential brittle fracture hazards. Therefore, dense phase ethylene treaters present design challenges with the unique combination of high temperature decomposition and cold temperature brittle fracture hazards.Due to these safety concerns, it is important to select the appropriate engineering design options for dense phase ethylene treaters and the associated regeneration facilities. Totally automated treater regeneration systems add complexity and instrument maintenance requirements while manually operated systems rely heavily on operator training and procedures. Unfortunately, little or no information or design guidance is available from published research findings in the literature on the evaluation and risk assessment of current industrial design options and practices for dense phase ethylene treaters.This paper presents a systematic risk assessment method to evaluate the engineering design and safe operation options for dense phase ethylene treaters. The proposed risk assessment method integrates human factors task analysis into the traditional HAZOP, LOPA and fault tree analysis to allow evaluation of automated, manual and hybrid approaches with a goal of selecting and optimizing design options to ensure plant safety. This approach provides a realistic assessment of the operational risk and allows identification of fit-for-purpose risk reduction. Applying this systematic risk assessment approach, a simpler and more cost effective design solution can be justified, thereby avoiding the need for a high integrity protective system.     

限速值对信号交叉口交通安全的影响分析

为研究交叉口进口道车辆限速值对交叉口的安全和运行产生的影响,通过微观仿真平台,分析车辆在交叉口限速分别为30,38和46 km/h时的车均延误、车均行程时间,并将车辆行驶轨迹输入安全辅助评价(SSAM)软件中展开分析。结果表明,车辆限速值的提高对车均延误的影响不大,但会减小车辆在进口道的车均行程时间。另外,限速值从30 km/h提高到46 km/h,引起的碰撞时间(TTC)、后侵占时间(PET)数值变化不显著,但使总冲突数从42个增加到59个。     

环氧氯丙烷工艺中分离罐气相出口的燃爆危险性分析

环氧氯丙烷生产工艺中双氧水分解产生的氧气与含氯丙烯、环氧氯丙烷、甲醇的可燃气体混合存在燃爆危险,为预防燃爆发生,利用5L爆炸极限测试仪测定分离罐气相出口可燃气在不同氧气浓度条件下的爆炸极限,并以此绘制爆炸极限三元图,得到不同工况条件下"可燃气-氧气-氮气"混合体系的燃爆区域。结果表明:随着氧气浓度的升高,可燃气爆炸上限明显提高,但爆炸下限变化不明显;随温度上升,气相出口组分发生变化,LOC值逐渐降低;正常冷却条件下极限氧含量为12%,冷却效果差时为10%,冷却失效时为9.3%;设置氧浓度报警时参考最小LOC值,留出裕度空间,控制体系氧含量小于5%有助于预防燃爆发生。     

综放工作面覆岩破坏特征及裂隙演化相似模拟试验研究

针对煤层开采后常出现矿压显现剧烈、煤岩透气性增大和地表下沉等问题,利用二维相似模拟试验研究综放工作面覆岩破坏特征并通过分形理论表征裂隙演化规律.试验结果表明:煤层基本顶初次来压步距为78 m,周期来压步距为24 m;煤层采动裂隙发育,距煤层顶板超过35 m;煤层开采后形成的覆岩裂隙具有分形特征,其分形维数随工作面的推进...     

Populations of orchids at the northern limit of their distribution (Murmansk Oblast): Effect of climate

The effect of climatic conditions on the dynamics of 21 populations of 10 species of the family Orchidaceae at the northern limit of their range in Europe was studied between 1992 and 2004. The abundance of orchid populations proved to depend primarily on air temperature during the previous and current growing seasons.     

浮顶油罐油气惰化防火防爆实验研究

对浮顶油罐的油气空间进行惰化,是一种新的油罐防火防爆方法。向浮顶油罐一、二次密封间的油气空间中加入氮气,可缩小浮顶油罐的一、二次密封之间环形空间油气的爆炸极限的范围。根据这一原理,通过模型实验对大型双重密封型浮顶油罐的油气空间进行了氮气惰化保护实验研究。实验结果表明油气空间内氮气的体积分数会随着氮气通入时间的增长而逐渐升高,油气的体积分数则逐渐降低。氮气通入开始一段时间,环形空间内氮气的体积分数会迅速上升,油气体积分数迅速下降。但随着氮气通入时间的增长,氮气体积分数的上升和油气体积分数的下降速度都会趋于平缓。另外当入口处氮气流量从27Nm3/h变化到54Nm3/h时,为使油气体积分数下降至油气爆炸下限1%所需氮气持续通入的时间也从300分钟左右下降至200分钟左右。     

热盐腐蚀环境对TC11钛合金高温寿命影响规律试验研究

目的 针对发动机钛合金部件在热盐环境与工作载荷下的寿命衰减问题，开展TC11钛合金热盐腐蚀疲劳与应力腐蚀试验，研究腐蚀环境下TC11的高温寿命衰减规律与失效机理。方法 利用喷盐法制备TC11钛合金试验件，研究不同温度与应力水平对TC11腐蚀疲劳以及应力腐蚀的影响规律。利用SEM等观测手段，开展腐蚀疲劳以及应力腐蚀试样断口与表面的形貌分析，分析腐蚀环境下的失效机理。结果 热盐腐蚀环境导致TC11的寿命显著降低，对比450 ℃下无腐蚀寿命，腐蚀疲劳寿命下降了2个数量级，应力腐蚀寿命下降到不足1%，且分散性较大。观察腐蚀疲劳和应力腐蚀的试样可以发现，表面有明显的腐蚀坑，腐蚀坑底发现裂纹。结论 热盐环境下，TC11腐蚀疲劳寿命和应力腐蚀寿命都会明显下降。由于腐蚀导致钛合金试样表面产生许多腐蚀坑，在腐蚀坑局部形成近似缺口，缺口部位的应力集中是导致腐蚀疲劳寿命衰减的重要因素。腐蚀疲劳的寿命低于Kt=1的无腐蚀疲劳寿命，但是要大于Kt=3的无腐蚀疲劳寿命。     

NON-ZERO LOWER LIMIT IN LOW FLOW FREQUENCY ANALYSIS?1

ABSTRACT: The implications of fitting distributions with non-zero lower limits to low flow data are examined. The 3-parameter Weibull distribution is fitted to annual minimum flow series from 60 long term stations in Canada. The relations between the estimated lower limit and three sampling variables (skewness, smallest, and largest observations) were investigated. The lower limit strongly depends on the sample skewness; it varies directly with the sample skewness, which in turn is highly influenced by the largest observation. For a given skewness, the value of the estimated lower limit is determined by the value of the smallest observation. Therefore, the lower limit cannot be accurately determined, and the resulting low flow estimates will be either too small or too high.     

对地震保险体制改革的探索

从研究地震灾害规律和保险经营特点之间的矛盾入手,叙述地震保险经营的困难,剖析我国现行地震保险体制的缺陷,提出了建立一个新的,相对科学和合理的地震保险体制的若干建议。