Actual Acceleration Research Articles

The new car following model considering vehicle dynamics influence and numerical simulation

In this paper, the car following model is investigated by considering the vehicle dynamics in a cyber physical view. In fact, that driving is a typical cyber physical process which couples the cyber aspect of the vehicles' information and driving decision tightly with the dynamics and physics of the vehicles and traffic environment. However, the influence from the physical (vehicle) view was been ignored in the previous car following models. In order to describe the car following behavior more reasonably in real traffic, a new car following model by considering vehicle dynamics (for short, D-CFM) is proposed. In this paper, we take the full velocity difference (FVD) car following model as a case. The stability condition is given on the base of the control theory. The analytical method and numerical simulation results show that the new models can describe the evolution of traffic congestion. The simulations also show vehicles with a more actual acceleration of starting process than early models.

Dynamic testing of a four-storey building with reinforced concrete and unreinforced masonry walls: prediction, test results and data set

This paper presents the results of a series of shake-table tests on a half-scale, four-storey building with reinforced concrete and unreinforced masonry walls. Due to the lack of reference tests, the seismic behaviour of such mixed structures is poorly understood. The test unit was subjected to several runs of increasing intensity yielding performance states between minor damage and near collapse. Before the test, the expected peak table accelerations leading to different limit states were estimated using the capacity spectrum method, and the predicted values corresponded rather well to actual sustained accelerations. Next to these analyses, the paper describes the test unit, instrumentation and input motion, and comments on the response of the mixed structure in terms of damage evolution and global response quantities, such as force–displacement response and drift and acceleration profiles. The raw and post-processed data sets are made publically available, and all relevant information with regard to data organisation and post-processing procedure is described in an appendix to this paper. The test serves therefore as a benchmark for the validation of numerical models of such mixed structures. The project aims at providing a foundation for the development of seismic design and assessment methods of mixed structures, which are currently not covered by structural codes, including Eurocode 8.

Maximum Possible Ground Motion for Linear Structures

This article develops a method to generate ground motion time histories that maximize the response of a given linearly elastic structure. The root mean square (RMS) level of the input power spectral density (PSD) is used as a strong motion parameter. It is related to seismological data that is readily available. An empirical relation to estimate RMS value of the PSD from peak ground acceleration, magnitude, rupture distance, and shear wave velocity is derived from world-wide strong motion data. The ground motion is obtained by solving the inverse problem such that the structural response is maximized under the constraint of fixed value of RMS level of the input PSD enforced using a Lagrange multiplier. The proposed methodology is illustrated for a single-degree of freedom system, a six storey building and an earthen dam. It is shown that the critical PSD obtained in all the cases is a narrow band process resulting in stochastic resonance and not a Dirac-delta function with the entire energy of the system concentrated at its natural frequency. Moreover, the critical excitation samples generated using this critical PSD resembles actual earthquake acceleration time histories.

動ひずみ測定を用いた振動入力の同定精度向上に関する研究

Transfer Path Analysis (TPA) has been conducted in order to improve the noise and vibration quality of mechanical structures. However, the force identification in the TPA is still challenging problem and its accuracy has to be improved. The Matrix Inversion Method and the Apparent-Mass Matrix Method are approaches for force identification. The Matrix Inversion Method estimates the excitation force by the product of an inverse matrix of accelerance and a vector of actual operational acceleration. It is known that the Matrix Inversion Method is very sensitive to measurement noise especially at the resonance. Apparent-Mass Matrix Method has been recently proposed, which provides more accurate results than the Matrix Inversion Method. However, these methods are still insufficient in accuracy, and improvement of identification accuracy is required. This paper proposes a new force identification method by using strain measurement. The method estimates the force using the Strain Frequency Response Function (SFRF) instead of acceleration or Apparent-Mass Matrix. The SFRFs are more strongly affected by higher-order modes than accelerance FRF. Therefore, we considered that more accurate force identification can be obtained by using SFRF than the conventional method. A numerical simulation and a vibration experiment are conducted to compare the results by the proposed method with the conventional method.

Acceleration Characteristics at Metered On-Ramps

Vehicle acceleration capability is an important parameter for traffic operation analysis, traffic simulation, and transportation facilities design. Most of the existing studies on acceleration characteristics, however, do not fully represent the realistic traffic conditions or are based on outdated data; these deficiencies may result in errors in modeling vehicle acceleration capability. In this paper, actual acceleration characteristics at metered on-ramps were investigated according to field data collection and analysis. With the assumption that vehicles make uniformly accelerated motion in each short space or time interval, the entire acceleration length was partitioned into several short segments. Then, video cameras, magnetic counters, or both were used to document the spot speed at predetermined locations; accordingly, distance–acceleration profiles of various ramp configurations were determined. Results showed that the acceleration rate at metered on-ramps was not constant; vehicles usually accelerated at a higher acceleration rate when the speed was lower and vice versa, and the maximum acceleration rate usually occurred at about 50 to 100 ft downstream from the stop bar. Also, a ramp with taper merging configuration usually produced higher acceleration rates than did a parallel merging ramp. This study also pointed out that acceleration rates documented in the AASHTO Green Book, widely used by most state departments of transportation in the United States as the acceleration length design guidance for metered on-ramps, were much lower than the values measured at existing metered on-ramps.

Investigation of the initiation mechanism of an earthquake- induced landslide during rainfall: a case study of the Tandikat landslide, West Sumatra, Indonesia

A large earthquake struck Padang Province, West Sumatra, Indonesia, at 17:16 on September 30, 2009. The earthquake had a moment magnitude of Mw 7.6, and triggered landslides in Tandikat, Padang Pariaman Regency. The landslides occurred during rainfall, and originated on mountains mantled with loose pumice, taking many lives. The unfortunate combination of intensive rainfall and strong earthquake probably decreased slope stability. This study seeks to examine the initiation mechanism of earthquake- induced landslides during rainfall, and to develop a new approach to predict pore pressure increase by assuming reciprocal relationships between strain, stiffness, and pore pressure. In order to assess slope stability, the concept of stiffness degradation was used to predict pore pressure increase due to earthquake. This was achieved by developing empirical formulation based on cyclic triaxial test results. A new procedure based on the “rigid block on quasi plastic layer” assumption was developed to assess slope stability of earthquake-induced landslides during heavy rainfall. Results from cyclic triaxial test experiments showed that effective confining pressure and initial shear stress had considerable influence on increase in pore pressure. Slope stability analysis using actual earthquake acceleration suggest that landslide occurred due to pore pressure build up and the factor of safety decreased rapidly before earthquake acceleration reached its peak. The results emphasize the high risk of catastrophic earthquake-triggered landslides in tropical regions with high rainfall. It also suggest that landslide with similar mechanism of pore pressure increase are likely to occur on saturated sliding zones during smaller earthquakes.

Behavioral effect of knee joint motion on body's center of mass during human quiet standing

The balance control mechanism during upright standing has often been investigated using single- or double-link inverted pendulum models, involving the ankle joint only or both the ankle and hip joints, respectively. Several studies, however, have reported that knee joint motion during quiet standing cannot be ignored. This study aimed to investigate the degree to which knee joint motion contributes to the center of mass (COM) kinematics during quiet standing. Eight healthy adults were asked to stand quietly for 30s on a force platform. Angular displacements and accelerations of the ankle, knee, and hip joints were calculated from kinematic data obtained by a motion capture system. We found that the amplitude of the angular acceleration was smallest in the ankle joint and largest in the hip joint (ankle<knee<hip). These angular accelerations were then substituted into three biomechanical models with or without the knee joint to estimate COM acceleration in the anterior–posterior direction. Although the “without-knee” models greatly overestimated the COM acceleration, the COM acceleration estimated by the “with-knee” model was similar to the actual acceleration obtained from force platform measurement. These results indicate substantial effects of knee joint motion on the COM kinematics during quiet standing. We suggest that investigations based on the multi-joint model, including the knee joint, are required to reveal the physiologically plausible balance control mechanism implemented by the central nervous system.

INVERSE DYNAMIC INPUT ESTIMATION OF A SEISMIC SOIL–STRUCTURE INTERACTION SYSTEM

The innovative fuzzy weighting input estimation method is used to estimate the ground motion acceleration of a soil–structure interaction system in this study. The input estimation method is comprised of the Kalman filter without the input term and the fuzzy weighting recursive least square estimator. The recursive least squares estimator (RLSE) is weighted using the fuzzy weighting factor. The superior capabilities of this inverse method are demonstrated by solving the soil–structure interaction estimation problem. The precision of the proposed method is verified using the actual earthquake acceleration. The results show that this method has the advantages of stability and accuracy.

Synthesis of artificial spectrum-compatible seismic accelerograms

The Hilbert–Huang transform is used to generate artificial seismic signals compatible with the acceleration spectra of natural seismic records. Artificial spectrum-compatible accelerograms are utilized instead of natural earthquake records for the dynamic response analysis of many critical structures such as hospitals, bridges, and power plants. The realistic estimation of the seismic response of structures involves nonlinear dynamic analysis. Moreover, it requires seismic accelerograms representative of the actual ground acceleration time histories expected at the site of interest. Unfortunately, not many actual records of different seismic intensities are available for many regions. In addition, a large number of seismic accelerograms are required to perform a series of nonlinear dynamic analyses for a reliable statistical investigation of the structural behavior under earthquake excitation. These are the main motivations for generating artificial spectrum-compatible seismic accelerograms and could be useful in earthquake engineering for dynamic analysis and design of buildings.According to the proposed method, a single natural earthquake record is deconstructed into amplitude and frequency components using the Hilbert–Huang transform. The proposed method is illustrated by studying 20 natural seismic records with different characteristics such as different frequency content, amplitude, and duration. Experimental results reveal the efficiency of the proposed method in comparison with well-established and industrial methods in the literature.

DYNAMICS AND AFTERGLOW LIGHT CURVES OF GAMMA-RAY BURST BLAST WAVES ENCOUNTERING A DENSITY BUMP OR VOID

We investigate the dynamics and afterglow light curves of gamma-ray burst (GRB) blast waves that encounter various density structures (such as bumps, voids, or steps) in the surrounding ambient medium. We present and explain the characteristic response features that each type of density structures in the medium leaves on the forward shock (FS) and reverse shock (RS) dynamics, for blast waves with either a long-lived or short-lived RS. We show that, when the ambient medium density drops, the blast waves exhibit in some cases a period of an actual acceleration (even during their deceleration stage), due to adiabatic cooling of blast waves. Comparing numerical examples that have different shapes of bumps or voids, we propose a number of consistency tests that correct modeling of blast waves needs to satisfy. Our model results successfully pass these tests. Employing a Lagrangian description of blast waves, we perform a sophisticated calculation of afterglow emission. We show that, as a response to density structures in the ambient medium, the RS light curves produce more significant variations than the FS light curves. Some observed features (such as re-brightenings, dips, or slow wiggles) can be more easily explained within the RS model. We also discuss on the origin of these different features imprinted on the FS and RS light curves.

Holographic dark energy with linearly varying deceleration parameter and escaping big rip singularity of the Bianchi type-V universe

The present work deals with the accretion of two minimally interacting fluids: dark matter and a hypothetical isotropic fluid as the holographic dark energy components onto black hole and wormhole in a spatially homogeneous and anisotropic Bianchi type-V universe. To obtain an exact solution of the Einstein’s field equations, we use the assumption of linearly varying deceleration parameter. Solution describes effectively the actual acceleration and indicates a big rip type future singularity of the universe. We have studied the evolution of the mass of black hole and the wormhole embedded in this anisotropic universe in order to reproduce a stable universe protected against future-time singularity. It is observed that the accretion of these dark components leads to a gradual decrease and increase of black hole and wormhole mass respectively. Finally, we have found that contrary to our previous case (Sarkar in Astrophys. Space. Sci. 341:651, 2014a), the big rip singularity of the universe with a divergent Hubble parameter of this dark energy model may be avoided by a big trip.

Nonlinear dynamics and control of a set of robots for hunting and coverage missions

The aim of this article is control of a set of 3-wheel robots with non-holonomic dynamics for hunting and covering around moving target. Robots have mass and inertia, and the wheel mass have been considered in the dynamic model of robots. The output of the controller is wheel’s torque and steering torque of the front wheel. The saturation and filtering effects of the actuators are also considered here. The robots in the group are controlled in such a way that each robot responds with an appropriate reaction, based on the control algorithm and the information passed down from other robots and the target (decentralized control). Moving target dynamics has been considered in a way that it is escaping from invader, and the target has holonomics dynamic, and it is assumed that the moving target hasn’t the wheel. To derive the equation of the motion, Kane dynamics procedure has been used. Robots are equipped with sensors for distance assessment, vision angle assessment and also signal receiver antenna. To estimate relative position and variables of another robot situation and target, Extended Kalman filter and Extended Kalman smoother (Extended Rauch–Tung–Strible smoother) had been used. To do a group maneuver using inertia analysis and optimizing the norm of error between desired and actual acceleration, controller was designed. The operation was implemented for three planes: ramp plane, spherical plane and cylindrical plane. The results include the hunting and the coverage of the target by four invader robot and relative distance diagrams between robots and the target, their velocity and corresponding to robots at three planes and also a comparison between real and estimated variables and moreover,comparison between estimations by Kalman filter and Kalman smoother. Based on the results, it can be seen that due to inertia effects in robots and non-holonomics feature of robots, designed controller and estimator are suitable for implementing to the operation to achieve appropriate results.

Self-Tuned NFC and Adaptive Torque Hysteresis-Based DTC Scheme for IM Drive

This paper presents a simplified self-tuned Sugeno-type neuro-fuzzy controller (NFC)-based direct torque control (DTC) scheme for induction motor (IM) drive. A simple tuning algorithm is developed based on the reference and actual acceleration of the motor. The online tuning strategy adjusts the parameters of the consequent layer of the NFC in order to minimize the square of the error between the actual and the reference acceleration of the motor. In a conventional DTC scheme, the band limits of flux and torque hysteresis controllers remain fixed, and hence, the torque and flux ripples are high. In order to minimize the torque ripples of the IM, the hysteresis band limits are adjusted online for the torque hysteresis controller. Thus, the proposed NFC is used to achieve high dynamic performance of the drive, and the variable hysteresis controller is used to reduce the steady-state torque ripple. The proposed NFC-based DTC scheme is successfully implemented in real time using the DSP board DS1104 for a prototype 1-hp squirrel-cage IM. The performance of the proposed drive is tested at different operating conditions in both simulation and experiment. The proposed NFC-based DTC scheme is found superior to the conventional DTC scheme in both steady-state and transient conditions.

A Century-Old Question: Does a Crookes Paddle Wheel Cathode Ray Tube Demonstrate that Electrons Carry Momentum?

In 1879, in the midst of the debate between English and continental scientists about the nature of cathode rays, William Crookes conducted an experiment in which a small mill or “paddle wheel” was pushed along tracks inside a cathode ray tube (CRT) (similar to that shown in Fig. 1) when connected to a high-voltage induction coil. Crookes attributed the motion of the wheel to momentum transfer from the cathode rays (electrons) to the wheel,1 and interpreted the experiment as providing evidence that cathode rays were particles. In 1903 Thomson discounted Crookes' interpretation by calculating that the rate of momentum transfer (which he estimated at no more than 2×10−3 dyn, equivalent to 2×10−8 N) would be far too small to account for the observed motion of the wheel,2 instead attributing the motion to the radiometric effect. The misconception was not laid to rest, however, and despite an effort in 1961 to draw attention to Thomson's original work and so remove the error from textbooks,3 the notion that a Crookes paddle wheel CRT demonstrates that electrons carry momentum continues to be taught in high school physics courses4 and wheel. We then measured the actual acceleration of the wheel in the CRT by video analysis of its motion and determined the moment of inertia of the wheel along with its mass and dimensions. We could then compare the force, which really acts on the wheel to produce the observed motion to the maximum impulsive force that is supplied by the electrons. Our measurements yield a maximum impulsive force due to the electrons [Fel=(1.1±0.3)×10−8N], which is within a factor of two of Thomson's estimate, and which is more than two orders of magnitude smaller than the force that is responsible for the observed acceleration of the paddle wheel [FW=(6±2)×10−6N]. This means that the rotation of the wheel is certainly not due to transferred momentum from the electron beam, and the results of the experiment should not be taught to students as proof that electrons are particles with mass that carry momentum.

A review of strong motion studies in Gujarat State of western India

The present work reviews the strong motion studies done in Gujarat State of western India. Prior to the 2001 Bhuj earthquake, no strong motion instrument was in operation in Gujarat. After the earthquake, number of research institutes/universities from India and abroad deployed strong motion instruments to study aftershock activity, source dynamics, path and site effects. The strong motion recordings have enhanced the general understanding of the physics of earthquakes in the region. An attempt has been made to develop attenuation relationship for the Gujarat region from the actual ground motions recorded by the strong motion networks. The Government of Gujarat with the help from Asian Development Bank, World Bank (WB), Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, has established a permanent dense network of strong motion accelerograph (SMA) all over Gujarat. In addition, the Institute of Seismological Research has been established in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, with the help of WB for carrying out seismological research. Recently, many important studies have been carried out using actual acceleration data obtained from a dense network of 54 SMA, as well as synthetic data generated using region-specific ground motion parameters. The recorded data are used to obtain region-specific ground motion parameters and ground motion prediction equation. A deterministic hazard analysis for the entire state of Gujarat has been carried out using site-specific ground motion parameters. The estimated peak ground acceleration and modified Mercalli intensity values have been used to estimate the vulnerability of the different types of buildings in 31 cities of Gujarat. As Gujarat has three distinct regions having varied geological conditions, the recorded strong motion data gave an opportunity to study the effect of geological and local-site conditions on the response spectra. This study for an intra-plate region like Gujarat is a pioneer work. Still, lots of research work need to be carried out as more and more data are available, such as development of more robust ground motion prediction equations and a 3D-velocity structure of Gujarat. Generation of shake maps in real time and a credible early earthquake warning system is need of the hour for disaster mitigation and management.

Robust Bayesian Compressive Sensing for Signals in Structural Health Monitoring

AbstractIn structural health monitoring (SHM) systems for civil structures, massive amounts of data are often generated that need data compression techniques to reduce the cost of signal transfer and storage, meanwhile offering a simple sensing system. Compressive sensing (CS) is a novel data acquisition method whereby the compression is done in a sensor simultaneously with the sampling. If the original sensed signal is sufficiently sparse in terms of some orthogonal basis (e.g., a sufficient number of wavelet coefficients are zero or negligibly small), the decompression can be done essentially perfectly up to some critical compression ratio; otherwise there is a trade‐off between the reconstruction error and how much compression occurs. In this article, a Bayesian compressive sensing (BCS) method is investigated that uses sparse Bayesian learning to reconstruct signals from a compressive sensor. By explicitly quantifying the uncertainty in the reconstructed signal from compressed data, the BCS technique exhibits an obvious benefit over existing regularized norm‐minimization CS methods that provide a single signal estimate. However, current BCS algorithms suffer from a robustness problem: sometimes the reconstruction errors are very large when the number of measurements K are a lot less than the number of signal degrees of freedom N that are needed to capture the signal accurately in a directly sampled form. In this article, we present improvements to the BCS reconstruction method to enhance its robustness so that even higher compression ratios can be used and we examine the trade‐off between efficiently compressing data and accurately decompressing it. Synthetic data and actual acceleration data collected from a bridge SHM system are used as examples. Compared with the state‐of‐the‐art BCS reconstruction algorithms, the improved BCS algorithm demonstrates superior performance. With the same acceptable error rate based on a specified threshold of reconstruction error, the proposed BCS algorithm works with relatively large compression ratios and it can achieve perfect lossless compression performance with quite high compression ratios. Furthermore, the error bars for the signal reconstruction are also quantified effectively.

Computation of linear acceleration through an internal model in the macaque cerebellum

A combination of theory and behavioral findings has supported a role for internal models in the resolution of sensory ambiguities and sensorimotor processing. Although the cerebellum has been proposed as a candidate for implementation of internal models, concrete evidence from neural responses is lacking. Here we exploit un-natural motion stimuli, which induce incorrect self-motion perception and eye movements, to explore the neural correlates of an internal model proposed to compensate for Einstein’s equivalence principle and generate neural estimates of linear acceleration and gravity. We show that caudal cerebellar vermis Purkinje cells and cerebellar nuclei neurons selective for actual linear acceleration also encode erroneous linear acceleration, as expected from the internal model hypothesis, even when no actual linear acceleration occurs. These findings provide strong evidence that the cerebellum might be involved in the implementation of internal models that mimic physical principles to interpret sensory signals, as previously hypothesized by theorists.

Terminal guidance laws of missile based on ISMC and NDOB with impact angle constraint

The terminal guidance problem for missiles intercepting maneuvering targets with terminal impact angle constraints is investigated. Regarding the target acceleration as an unknown bounded disturbance, novel guidance laws based on integral sliding mode control (ISMC) method technique are developed. The first one is a linear integral sliding mode (ISM) guidance law, which can guarantee the line-of-sight (LOS) angular rate and the LOS angle asymptotical convergence with infinite time. To further improve the convergence characteristics of guidance system, a nonlinear ISM guidance law is developed, which guarantees the LOS angular rate and LOS angle finite-time convergence characteristics. However, to guarantee the guidance system has a good performance for dealing with target acceleration, the switch gains of both linear and nonlinear ISM guidance laws need to be chosen larger than the bound of the target acceleration. It will lead to chattering problem. To reduce the chattering phenomenon and improve the performance of system, nonlinear disturbance observer (NDOB) is employed to estimate the target acceleration. The estimated acceleration is used to compensate to actual target acceleration. Then, two novel composite guidance laws combining linear and nonlinear ISM guidance laws with feedforward compensation terms based on NDOB are developed. Finally, simulation comparison results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Angular Acceleration Measurement Experiment Study of Stepping Motor on Single Clap Operation

Apparent rotational angular acceleration exist in the stepper motor operation processing, the stepper motor torque angle characteristics were described and the mathematical model of motor are constructed; The actual angular acceleration of stepper motor on single-step operation is measured by self-developed rotating angular acceleration sensor, the experimental results show that the angular acceleration fluctuations of stepping motor on three single clap operation are little greater than on six clap operation, and there are return oscillations of motor on three single clap operation are obviously more than on six clap operation; Finally, the experimental phenomenon reasons are analyzed, and the corresponding conclusions are obtained.

Adaptive Feedforward for a Wafer Stage in a Lithographic Tool

The wafer stage and reticle stage in a lithographic tool, used to manufacture integrated circuits (ICs), operate at nanometer accuracy during a scanning motion. The position accuracy and settling time after accelerating to the scanning velocity are largely determined by the feedforward controller. The feedforward controller calculates the required force for the stage to move according to its position profile by multiplying the reference acceleration with the known stage mass. Two effects limit the accuracy directly after the acceleration phase. First, the actual stage acceleration in response to the controller-calculated force depends on the position of the stage in its working range. A variation of 0.1% is observed. Second, dynamic resonances in the stage response require a higher-order feedforward model. Combined, these effects result in a 20-30 nm peak position error. This brief investigates online adaptation of the feedforward mass parameter, with the aim of reducing the position-dependent stage behavior. Adaptation of only the feedforward mass is shown not to be able to compensate for stage dynamics, additionally requiring a higher-order feedforward element. From the control force and the measured motion response, the feedforward mass parameter is estimated on line. Least-squares estimation is fast enough to update the mass parameter during the acceleration phase, which takes less than 100 ms. This brief addresses a number of practical aspects and shows that adaptive feedforward estimation in combination with higher-order feedforward reduces the peak position error consistently by creating position-independent behavior.