Motorway noise modelling based on perpendicular propagation analysis of traffic noise

A model for motorway traffic noise has been obtained from measurements along the the Bangkok-Chonburi motorway. The model’s parameters include traffic volume and combination, the average spot speed of each type of vehicle and the physical conditions of the motorway in terms of right-of-way width, number of lanes, lane width, shoulder width, and median width for both of the main carriageways and frontage roads. The noise level that is generated by each type of vehicle has been analyzed according to the propagation in the direction perpendicular to the center line of motorway’s carriageway. The total traffic noise is then analyzed from traffic volume of all vehicle types on both sides of carriageways and frontage roads. The basic noise levels used in the motorway traffic noise model are modified according to the effective ground effect along the propagation path. The final result of this study is that a motorway traffic noise model based on the perpendicular propagation analysis technique performs well in a statistical goodness-of-fit test against the field data, and therefore, can be used effectively in traffic noise prediction for related or similar motorway projects.     

An empirical model for the noise propagation in open cast mines - A case study

Data obtained from 312 measurement stations of sound propagation in panel 48 of the Tuncbilek open cast mine, Western Lignite Corporation, Turkey have been used to create an empirical model for such propagation. As well as the noise level recorded at these stations, atmospheric conditions were recorded also by the meteorological station located at the same panel. A total of 95,000 noise values were recorded at these stations. In addition the distances of the measurement stations to the effective source of noise and to the working slope, the meteorological effects and the number of noise sources were defined for each of 312 measurement stations. Using these data, the proposed model was tested against the noise measurements.     

Electromagnetic wave propagation in rain and polarization effects

This paper summarizes our study on microwave and millimeter-wave propagation in rain with special emphasis on the effects of polarization. Starting from a recount of our past findings, we will discuss developments with these and how they are connected with subsequent research.     

Numerical Investigation and Wind Tunnel Validation on Near-Wake Vortical Structures of Wind Turbine Blades

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been used by numerous researchers for the simulation of flows around wind turbines. Since the 2000s, the experiments of NREL phase VI blades for blind comparison have been a de-facto standard for numerical software on the prediction of full scale horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) performance. However, the characteristics of vortex structures in the wake, whether for modeling the wake or for understanding the aerodynamic mechanisms inside, are still not thoroughly investigated. In the present study, the flow around NREL phase VI blades was numerically simulated, and the results of the wake field were compared with the experimental ones of a one-to-eight scaled model in a low-speed wind tunnel. A good agreement between simulation and experimental results was achieved for the evaluation of overall performances. The simulation captured the complete formation procedure of tip vortex structure from the blade. Quantitative analysis showed the streamwise translation movement of vortex cores. Both the initial formation and the damping of vorticity in near wake field were predicted. These numerical results showed good agreements with the measurements. Moreover, wind tunnel wall effects were also investigated on these vortex structures, and it revealed further radial expansion of the helical vortical structures in comparison with the free-stream case.     

Wave propagation in fluid-conveying viscoelastic single-walled carbon nanotubes with surface and nonlocal effects

In this paper, the transverse wave propagation in fluid-conveying viscoelastic single-walled carbon nanotubes is investigated based on nonlocal elasticity theory with consideration of surface effect. The governing equation is formulated utilizing nonlocal Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and Kelvin-Voigt model. Explicit wave dispersion relation is developed and wave phase velocities and frequencies are obtained. The effect of the fluid flow velocity, structural damping, surface effect, small scale effects and tube diameter on the wave propagation properties are discussed with different wave numbers. The wave frequency increases with the increase of fluid flow velocity, but decreases with the increases of tube diameter and wave number. The effect of surface elasticity and residual surface tension is more significant for small wave number and tube diameter. For larger values of wave number and nonlocal parameters, the real part of frequency ratio raises.     

Influence of strong noise on the decline and propagation of population in the delayed Malthus-Verhulst model

The effects of strong noise on the decline and propagation processes of a population in the Malthus-Verhulst model with time delay are investigated by a stochastic simulation. Time delays in two different processes are concurrent in ecosystems. The simulation results indicate that: The stability of the population is enhanced by the decreasing multiplicative noise intensity and the increasing delay time. The replacement of old individuals with young ones is accelerated by an increasing multiplicative noise intensity, an increasing additive noise intensity and a decreasing delay time. An increasing multiplicative noise intensity will drive the population of species to fluctuate more largely.     

Practical guidance for risk assessment of traffic noise effects on sleep

Environmental noise disturbs sleep and may impair well-being, performance and health. The European Union Directive 2002/49/EC (END) requires member states to generate noise maps and action plans to mitigate traffic noise effects on the population. However, practical guidance for the generation of action plans, i.e. for assessing the effects of traffic noise on sleep, is missing. Based on the current literature, we provide guidance on hazard identification, exposure assessment, exposure-response relationships and risk estimation: there is currently no consensus on both exposure and outcome variables that describe traffic noise effects on sleep most adequately. END suggests the equivalent noise level L_night as the primary exposure variable, and our own simulations of single nights with up to 200 noise events based on a field study on the effects of aircraft noise on sleep support using expert consensus L_night ranges (<30, 30-40, 40-55, >55 dB) for risk assessment. However, the precision of risk assessment may be considerably improved by adding information on the number of noise events contributing to L_night. The calculation of L_night should be extended to the shoulder hours of the day if traffic is busy during these periods. More data are needed on the combined effects of different traffic modes.     

Estimation of directivity and sound power levels emitted by aircrafts during taxiing, for outdoor noise prediction purpose

Integrated noise model (INM) is the most internationally used software to calculate noise levels near airports. Take off, landing or pass by operations can be modeled by INM, but it does not consider aircrafts taxiing, which, in some cases, can be important to accurately evaluate and reduce airports’ noise assessment.Aircraft taxiing noise emission can be predicted using other prediction tools based on standards that describe sound attenuation during propagation outdoors. But these tools require data inputs that are not known: directivity and sound power levels emitted by aircraft during taxiing.This paper describes methods used to calculate directivity indexes and sound power levels, based on field measurements made in Madrid-Barajas Airport (Spain). Obtained results can be used as inputs for general purpose outdoor sound prediction software, which will be able to evaluate noise at airports vicinity as industrial noise.Directivity and sound power levels have been estimated in octave and third octave band terms, for several aircraft families.     

The effects of tilt corrected residual aberration on the detection probability of single-photon propagation in a slant path turbulent atmosphere

Based on the assumption of a pulse laser beam with an initial Gaussian temporal shape and a collimated fundamental-model Gaussian beam, the Rytov approximation and Kolmogorov spectrum model for the index-of-refraction fluctuation of atmosphere, the effect of turbulence on the probability density, acquisition transmittance probability, transmittance probability density, acquisition probability of single-photon propagation in atmospheric communication channel with z-tilt and centroid-tilt aberration corrected are studied theoretically. The probability density, acquisition transmittance probability, transmittance probability density and acquisition probability models for single-photon propagation in uplink path and downlink path are derived. Our results shown that the detection probability and the acquisition transmittance probability of the single-photon are obvious increase, when the beams are propagation in the z-tilt corrected communication channel.     

Heat recirculation effects on flame propagation and flame structure in a mesoscale tube

Heat recirculation effects on flame propagation and flame structure are theoretically and experimentally examined in a mesoscale tube as the simplest model of heat-recirculating burners. Solutions for steady propagation are obtained using a one-dimensional two-temperature approximation. The results show that the low heat diffusivities of common solid materials permit significant heat recirculation through the wall only for a slowly-propagating condition, otherwise the flame behaves almost like a freely-propagating nonadiabatic flame. This limited heat recirculation sharply pinches and stretches two well-known branches of the freely-propagating nonadiabatic flame, resulting in the appearance of two slow-propagation branches. On the upper slow-propagation branch flames can reach superadiabatic temperatures and on the lower one, which is stretched from the classical unstable lower branch, flames can be stable. As the tube inner diameter decreases, another burning regime appears where flames are barely sustained by the heat recirculation. Further reduction of the tube inner diameter makes no flame exist. It is also revealed that a flame in a mesoscale tube has two length scales, i.e. the conventional flame thickness and a convective preheat zone thickness, and that the latter should be much larger than the former for significant heat recirculation. It is theoretically predicted that a heat-recirculating, even superadiabatic, flame with positive propagation velocity against the gas flow can exist in a mesoscale tube. It is also found that a flame transition from one branch to another in a given tube is well described by only one dimensionless parameter. Finally, these theoretical results show good qualitative agreements with experiments, especially for the transition behaviours.     

Theoretical and experimental investigation of fluid rheology effects on modulated ultrasound propagation

A mathematical model is developed and presented to capture the effect of viscoelastic nature of a material on modulated ultrasound (US) pulses. The model is established by considering perturbation of material elements subject to modulated US pulses and by introducing the exponential relaxation of the perturbed fluid elements with a spectrum of time constants. Both the model and experimental findings revealed that consecutive perturbation of a material via the modulated US pulses enabled to probe the relaxation times of similar order of magnitudes to the frequency of the US modulation while filtering out the impact of other relaxation times on the US measurement. The US experimental results were verified by those of a conventional rheometer. Hence carrying out measurements at different US modulation frequencies in the Hz ranges seems to allow one to obtain the relaxation time spectrum of the investigated material in the time scales of milliseconds to seconds.     

换流变压器噪声预测模型及其简化研究

换流变压器作为高压直流换流站主要噪声源,其噪声预测精度和控制方法的选择将直接影响换流站整体噪声预测水平及治理效果。通过对换流变压器噪声的产生机理、噪声频谱及常见治理方案等方面进行系统研究,重点推出了换流变压器噪声控制方法BOX-IN技术,并就BOX-IN装置的噪声预测模型进行了简化和对比验证。通过对降噪量进行现场测试,结果表明,BOX-IN装置降噪量达到20dB(A)左右,与理论计算值近似,为进一步提高高压直流换流站噪声预测精度提供了理论依据。     

Geometric analysis of the b-dependent effects of Rician signal noise on diffusion tensor imaging estimates and determining an optimal b value

The optimal diffusion weighting (DW) factor, b, for use in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies remains uncertain. In this study, the geometric relations of DW quantities are examined, in particular, the effects of Rician noise in the measured magnetic resonance signal. This geometric analysis is used to make theoretical predictions for selecting a b value to reduce the influence of noise. It is shown that the optimal b value for DTI studies in healthy human parenchyma is approximately b=1200 s mm⁻², with a simple relation given as well for a given expected apparent diffusion coefficient. Monte-Carlo simulations on sets of realistic DTI measures are then performed, verifying the optimal DW for minimizing estimate errors. The effects of noise on various DTI parameters such as anisotropy indices (fractional anisotropy and scaled relative anisotropy), mean diffusivity, radial diffusivity, eigenvalues and the direction of the first eigenvector are investigated as well.     

基于GPS、磁罗盘与大气数据计算机的无人机风估计

针对无人机实时航路规划及适应环境变化的自主能力发展需求,提出了一种新的风估计与空速校准的方法;该方法基于GPS接收机、大气计算机和磁罗盘等传感器实现;针对定常风模型,风速、风向能够利用地速、风速和空速之间的速度矢量三角形关系计算得到;采用无导扩展卡尔曼滤波(DEKF),估计风场信息以及真空速的比例校准系数;利用某型无人机数字仿真平台,在2D定常风条件下进行了全过程自主飞行仿真;仿真结果表明:该方法在航路跟随的直线段、转弯段均能准确估计。     

A subpixel motion estimation algorithm based on digital correlation for illumination variant and noise image sequences

One of the challenges in practical subpixel motion estimation is how to obtain high accuracy with sufficient robustness to both illumination variations and additive noise. Motivated by the fact that the normalized spatial cross-correlation is invariant to illumination, we introduce a gradient-based subpixel registration method by maximizing the digital correlation (DC) function between the reference and target frames. Such DC function is remodeled with the presence of image noise, yielding that the correlation coefficient is only sensitive to noise standard variance. To fairly suppress the noise corruption, not only the target frame but also the reference one is reformulated into Taylor gradient expression with half but opposite motion vector. The final solution to motion estimates can be approximated into a closed form by reserving first-order coefficient terms of unregistered motion variables. The error trend of approximated solution is discussed. Computer simulations and actual experiments’ results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method to the LMSE-based method and ordinary DC method when illumination variations and noise exist. Among the experiments, the influences of real subpixel translation value and noise variance degree on accuracy are studied; correspondingly, an optimized iterative idea for big translations and the recommended noise level adaptive to our method are introduced.     

Numerical and experimental studies on housing optimization for noise reduction of an axial piston pump

This paper presents a methodology to reduce the noise of an axial piston pump through modification of the housing structure, combined with both numerical and experimental methods. The finite element models of the housing and cover are established, and are assembled together. The finite element models are validated and updated using experimental modal analysis. The frequency response function of the assembly is calculated, and the shell element in the inner surfaces of the housing is added. The effects of the thickness of the shell element on the frequency response function are identified. A topology optimization is conducted for the purpose of reducing the frequency response function and the increase of mass. The prototype pump is manufactured and assembled. Different experimental measurements are carried out, including the measurement of the vibration and the distributions of the sound pressure levels around the pump. Results show that the vibration and noise are reduced by using the optimized housing. In particular, the average sound pressure level is reduced by about 2 dB(A) at the discharge pressure of 250 bar, and the sound pressure level at the second harmonic is reduced significantly. The method proposed here can also be used for other kinds of displacement pumps.     

A novel approach for fMRI data analysis based on the combination of sparse approximation and affinity propagation clustering

Clustering analysis has been widely used to detect the functional connectivity from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. However, it has some limitations such as enormous computer memory requirement, and difficulty in estimating the number of clusters. In this study, in order to effectually resolve the deficiencies mentioned above, we have proposed a novel approach (SAAPC) for fMRI data analysis, which combines sparsity, an effective assumption for analyzing fMRI signal, with affinity propagation clustering (APC).     

Coupling discontinuous Galerkin methods and retarded potentials for transient wave propagation on unbounded domains

This work deals with the numerical simulation of wave propagation on unbounded domains with localized heterogeneities. To do so, we propose to combine a discretization based on a discontinuous Galerkin method in space and explicit finite differences in time on the regions containing heterogeneities with the retarded potential method to account the unbounded nature of the computational domain. The coupling formula enforces a discrete energy identity ensuring the stability under the usual CFL condition in the interior. Moreover, the scheme allows to use a smaller time step in the interior domain yielding to quasi-optimal discretization parameters for both methods. The aliasing phenomena introduced by the local time stepping are reduced by a post-processing by averaging in time obtaining a stable and second order consistent (in time) coupling algorithm. We compute the numerical rate of convergence of the method for an academic problem. The numerical results show the feasibility of the whole discretization procedure.     

Robustness of NRZ, RZ, CSRZ and CRZ modulation on fiber nonlinearities and amplifier noise at 40 Gbps for (OC-786) long haul link

In this paper, the robustness of NRZ, RZ, carrier-suppressed RZ (CSRZ) and chirped RZ (CRZ) modulation formats at 40 Gbps for (OC-786) long haul link on the amplifier noise figure and fiber nonlinearities has been investigated. The investigations reveals that highest Q²(dB) of the order of [20, 25]; [19, 20]; [18, 19] and [16, 18] has been obtained in case of RZ, CSRZ, CRZ and NRZ modulation formats, respectively, in the presence of fiber nonlinearities and with and without amplifier noise figure of 6 dB. It has been observed that Q²(dB) in case of CRZ fluctuate between 18 and 14 at power variation of −10 to 4 dBm and NF of 6 dB, while it is between 19-9, 20-0 and 16-0 in case of CSRZ, RZ and NRZ. It has been identified that CRZ and CSRZ have shown the robustness on fiber nonlinearity and noise at 40 Gbps up to the transmission distance of 450 km. The wide eye opening in case of CRZ modulation also proved the robustness on fiber nonlinearity and noise.