Visual angle model for car-following theory

The vast majority of car-following models are lack of the consideration of human drivers’ characteristics. Based on the fact that each driver of a following vehicle perceives closing-in or shying-away a leading vehicle in front of him/her, primarily due to changes in the apparent size of the leading vehicle, we improved the full velocity difference (FVD) model and presented a visual angle car-following model. This model is in view of the stimulus-response framework and uses the visual angle and the change rate of the visual angle as stimulus. Results from linear analysis showed that the neutral stability line is asymmetry and the width of the leading vehicle has a great impact on the stability of traffic flow. Numerical simulations obtained the same results as theoretical analysis clearly such as density wave, shrinking hysteresis, asymmetry and wide scattering. Thus, the introducing of the visual angle can explain some complex nature of traffic flow and contribute to the design of more realistic car-following models.     

Modeling and analysis of car-following behavior considering backward-looking effect

The car-following behavior can be influenced by its driver’s backward-looking effect.Especially in traffic congestion,if vehicles adjust the headway by considering backward-looking effect,the stability of traffic flow can be enhanced.A model of car-following behavior considering backward-looking effect was built using visual information as a stimulus.The critical stability conditions were derived by linear and nonlinear stability analyses.The results of parameter sensitivity analysis indicate that the stability of traffic flow was enhanced by considering the backward-looking effect.The spatiotemporal evolution of traffic flow of different truck ratios and varying degrees of backward-looking effect was determined by numerical simulation.This study lays a foundation for exploring the complex feature of car-following behavior and making the intelligent network vehicles control rules more consistent with human driver habits.     

A new continuum model with driver's continuous sensory memory and preceding vehicle's taillight

Car taillights are ubiquitous during the deceleration process in real traffic, while drivers have a memory for historical information. The collective effect may greatly affect driving behavior and traffic flow performance. In this paper, we propose a continuum model with the driver's memory time and the preceding vehicle's taillight. To better reflect reality, the continuous driving process is also considered. To this end, we first develop a unique version of a car-following model. By converting micro variables into macro variables with a macro conversion method, the micro car-following model is transformed into a new continuum model. Based on a linear stability analysis, the stability conditions of the new continuum model are obtained. We proceed to deduce the modified KdV-Burgers equation of the model in a nonlinear stability analysis, where the solution can be used to describe the propagation and evolution characteristics of the density wave near the neutral stability curve. The results show that memory time has a negative impact on the stability of traffic flow, whereas the provision of the preceding vehicle's taillight contributes to mitigating traffic congestion and reducing energy consumption.     

Influence of lateral discomfort on the stability of traffic flow based on visual angle car-following model

Due to the poor road markings and irregular driving behaviors, not every vehicle is positioned in the center of the lane. The deviation from the center can cause discomfort to drivers in the neighboring lane, which is referred to as lateral discomfort (or lateral friction). Such lateral discomfort can be incorporated into the driver stimulus–response framework by considering the visual angle and its changing rate from the psychological viewpoint. In this study, a two-lane visual angle based car-following model is proposed and its stability condition is obtained through linear stability theory. Further derivations indicate that the neutral stability line of the model is asymmetry and four factors including the vehicle width and length, the lateral separation and the sensitivity regarding the changing rate of visual angle have large impacts on the stability of traffic flow. Numerical simulations further verify these theoretical results, and demonstrate that the behaviors of diverging, merging and lane changing can break the original steady state and cause traffic fluctuations. However, these fluctuations may be alleviated to some extent by reducing the lateral discomfort.     

Interface phonon modes in truncated conical self-assembled quantum dots

Within the framework of the standard dielectric continuum model (DCM), we have performed a theoretical study of interface (IF) phonon modes in III-V semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots (SAQDs). We model the SAQD as a truncated cone whose growth-axis is along the polar axis of the cone. Small and arbitrary polar angle approximations are used to resolve the angular partial differential equation within the variables separation scheme of the Laplace’s equation. Our theory allows to obtain new features in the IF modes behavior as the geometry parameters change (aspect ratio and angle of the conical dot). In fact, IF eigenfrequencies present an abrupt change at determined angles, related with the change of sign in the IF dispersion law.     

Analyses of a heterogeneous lattice hydrodynamic model with low and high-sensitivity vehicles

Basic lattice model is extended to study the heterogeneous traffic by considering the optimal current difference effect on a unidirectional single lane highway. Heterogeneous traffic consisting of low- and high-sensitivity vehicles is modeled and their impact on stability of mixed traffic flow has been examined through linear stability analysis. The stability of flow is investigated in five distinct regions of the neutral stability diagram corresponding to the amount of higher sensitivity vehicles present on road. In order to investigate the propagating behavior of density waves non linear analysis is performed and near the critical point, the kink antikink soliton is obtained by driving mKdV equation. The effect of fraction parameter corresponding to high sensitivity vehicles is investigated and the results indicates that the stability rise up due to the fraction parameter. The theoretical findings are verified via direct numerical simulation.     

Stabilization strategy of a car-following model with multiple time delays of the drivers

An extended car-following model with multiple delays is constructed to describe driver's driving behavior. Through stability analysis, the stability condition of this uncontrolled model is given. To dampen the negative impact of the driver's multiple delays (i.e., stability condition is not satisfied), a novel control strategy is proposed to assist the driver in adjusting vehicle operation. The control strategy consists of two parts:the design of control term as well as the design of the parameters in the term. Bifurcation analysis is performed to illustrate the necessity of the design of parameters in control terms. In the course of the design of parameters in the control term, we improve the definite integral stability method to reduce the iterations by incorporating the characteristics of bifurcation, which can determine the appropriate parameters in the control terms more quickly. Finally, in the case study, we validate the control strategy by utilizing measured data and configuring scenario, which is closer to the actual traffic. The results of validation show that the control strategy can effectively stabilize the unstable traffic flow caused by driver's delays.     

考虑驾驶员预估效应的交通流格子模型与数值仿真

考虑驾驶员的预估效应对车流的影响,提出了一个改进的一维交通流格子模型.基于线性稳定性理论得到了该模型的线性稳定性判据;运用非线性分析方法导出了描述交通阻塞相变时的mKdV方程.应用数值仿真验证了mKdV方程的解,研究表明适当考虑车流中预估效应的作用能够增强交通流稳定性,从而能有效抑制交通阻塞的形成. 关键词： 预估效应 交通流 格子模型 数值仿真     

A new lattice model of traffic flow with the consideration of the driver?s forecast effects

In this Letter, a new lattice model is presented with the consideration of the driver?s forecast effects (DFE). The linear stability condition of the extended model is obtained by using the linear stability theory. The analytical results show that the new model can improve the stability of traffic flow by considering DFE. The modified KdV equation near the critical point is derived to describe the traffic jam by nonlinear analysis. Numerical simulation also shows that the new model can improve the stability of traffic flow by adjusting the driver?s forecast intensity parameter, which is consistent with the theoretical analysis.     

Multiple flux difference effect in the lattice hydrodynamic model

Considering the effect of multiple flux difference, an extended lattice model is proposed to improve the stability of traffic flow. The stability condition of the new model is obtained by using linear stability theory. The theoretical analysis result shows that considering the flux difference effect ahead can stabilize traffic flow. The nonlinear analysis is also conducted by using a reductive perturbation method. The modified KdV (mKdV) equation near the critical point is derived and the kink-antikink solution is obtained from the mKdV equation. Numerical simulation results show that the multiple flux difference effect can suppress the traffic jam considerably, which is in line with the analytical result.     

The Korteweg-de Vires equation for the bidirectional pedestrian flow model considering the next-nearest-neighbor effect

This paper focuses on a two-dimensional bidirectional pedestrian flow model which involves the next-nearest-neighbor effect. The stability condition and the Korteweg-de Vries （KdV） equation are derived to describe the density wave of pedestrian congestion by linear stability and nonlinear analysis. Through theoretical analysis, the soliton solution is obtained.     

Non-negativity and stability analyses of lattice Boltzmann method for advection–diffusion equation

Stability is one of the main concerns in the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The objectives of this study are to investigate the linear stability of the lattice Boltzmann equation with the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook collision operator (LBGK) for the advection–diffusion equation (ADE), and to understand the relationship between the stability of the LBGK and non-negativity of the equilibrium distribution functions (EDFs). This study conducted linear stability analysis on the LBGK, whose stability depends on the lattice Peclet number, the Courant number, the single relaxation time, and the flow direction. The von Neumann analysis was applied to delineate the stability domains by systematically varying these parameters. Moreover, the dimensionless EDFs were analyzed to identify the non-negative domains of the dimensionless EDFs. As a result, this study obtained linear stability and non-negativity domains for three different lattices with linear and second-order EDFs. It was found that the second-order EDFs have larger stability and non-negativity domains than the linear EDFs and outperform linear EDFs in terms of stability and numerical dispersion. Furthermore, the non-negativity of the EDFs is a sufficient condition for linear stability and becomes a necessary condition when the relaxation time is very close to 0.5. The stability and non-negativity domains provide useful information to guide the selection of dimensionless parameters to obtain stable LBM solutions. We use mass transport problems to demonstrate the consistency between the theoretical findings and LBM solutions.     

The Effect of the Relative Velocity on Traffic Flow

The optimal velocity model of traffic is extended to take the relative velocity into account. The traffic behavior is investigated numerically and analytically with this model. It is shown that the car interaction with the relative velocity can effect the stability of the traffic flow and raise critical density. The jamming transition between the freely moving and jamming phases is investigated with the linear stability analysis and nonlinear perturbation methods. The traffic jam is described by the kink solution of the modified Korteweg--de Vries equation. The theoretical result is in good agreement with the simulation.     

Heterogeneous traffic flow modeling with drivers' timid and aggressive characteristics

The driver's characteristics(e.g., timid and aggressive) has been proven to greatly affect the traffic flow performance,whereas the underlying assumption in most of the existing studies is that all drivers are homogeneous. In the real traffic environment, the drivers are distinct due to a variety of factors such as personality characteristics. To better reflect the reality,we introduce the penetration rate to describe the degree of drivers' heterogeneity(i.e., timid and aggressive), and proceed to propose a generalized heterogeneous car-following model with different driver's characteristics. Through the linear stability analysis, the stability conditions of the proposed heterogeneous traffic flow model are obtained based on the perturbation method. The impacts of the penetration rate of drivers with low intensity, the average value and standard deviation of intensity parameters characterizing two types of drivers on the stability of traffic flow are analyzed by simulation. Results show that higher penetration of aggressive drivers contributes to traffic flow stability. The average value has a great impact on the stability of traffic flow, whereas the impact of the standard deviation is trivial.     

Stability and Hopf bifurcation analysis on a simplified BAM neural network with delays

A delay-differential equation modelling a bidirectional associative memory (BAM) neural network with three neurons is investigated. Its dynamics are studied in terms of local analysis and Hopf bifurcation analysis. By analyzing the associated characteristic equation, its linear stability is investigated and Hopf bifurcations are demonstrated. The stability and direction of the Hopf bifurcation are determined by applying the normal form theory and the center manifold reduction. Numerical simulation results are given to support the theoretical predictions.     

Analysis of car-following model considering driver’s physical delay in sensing headway

An extended car-following model is proposed by taking into account the delay of the driver’s response in sensing headway. The stability condition of this model is obtained by using the linear stability theory. The results show that the stability region decreases when the driver’s physical delay in sensing headway increases. The KdV equation and mKdV equation near the neutral stability line and the critical point are respectively derived by applying the reductive perturbation method. The traffic jams could be thus described by soliton solution and kink-antikink soliton solution for the KdV equation and mKdV equation respectively. The numerical results in the form of the space-time evolution of headway show that the stabilization effect is weakened when the driver’s physical delay increases. It confirms the fact that the delay of driver’s response in sensing headway plays an important role in jamming transition, and the numerical results are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis.     

Subcritical Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a Hele-Shaw cell

We investigate experimentally the subcritical behavior of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability for a gas-liquid shearing flow in a Hele-Shaw cell. The subcritical curve separating the solutions of a stable plane interface and a fully saturated nonlinear wave train is determined. Experimental results are fitted by a fifth order complex Ginzburg-Landau equation whose linear coefficients are compared to theoretical ones.     

Flow difference effect in the two-lane lattice hydrodynamic model

By introducing a flow difference effect, a modified lattice two-lane traffic flow model is proposed, which is proved to be capable of improving the stability of traffic flow. Both the linear stability condition and the kink-antikink solution derived from the modified Korteweg-de Vries (mKdV) equation are analyzed. Numerical simulations verify the theoretical analysis. Furthermore, the evolution laws under different disturbances in the metastable region are studied.     

Nonlinear analysis of an improved continuum model considering mean-field velocity difference

Based on the velocity gradient model, an extended continuum model with consideration of the mean-field velocity difference is proposed in this paper. By using the linear stability theory, the linear stability criterion of the new model is gained, which proved that mean-field velocity difference has significant influence on stability of traffic flow. The KdV–Burgers equation is derived by using non-linear analysis method and the evolution of density wave near the neutral stability line is explored. Numerical simulations are carried out how mean-field velocity difference affect the stability of traffic flow, and energy consumption is also studied for this new macro model. At the same time, complicated traffic phenomena such as local cluster effects, shock waves and rarefaction waves can be reproduced in the new model by numerical simulation. Numerical results are consistent with the theoretical analysis, which indicates that the mean-field velocity difference not only suppresses traffic jam, but also depresses energy consumption.     

Modeling of Focused Acoustic Field of a Concave Multi-annular Phased Array Using Spheroidal Beam Equation

A theoretical model of focused acoustic field for a multi-annular phased array on concave spherical surface is proposed.In this model,the source boundary conditions of the spheroidal beam equation(SBE) for multi-annular phased elements are studied.Acoustic field calculated by the dynamic focusing model of SBE is compared with numerical results of the O'Neil and Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov(KZK) model,respectively.Axial dynamic focusing and the harmonic effects are presented.The results demonstrate that the dynamic focusing model of SBE is good valid for a concave multi-annular phased array with a large aperture angle in the linear or nonlinear field.