Preconditioning of deep snowpack for off-road vehicle mobility

This paper addresses several preconditioning techniques for strengthening a deep snowpack in order to support vehicular loadings. The criteria imposed on preconditioning a deep snowpack were: (1) only light commercially-available vehicles or equipment could be used, (2) preconditioning would only be applied to the snow surface and (3) any additives to be used should be easily acquired in remote areas. Viable preconditioning techniques were first evaluated in the laboratory using artificial snow. The techniques explored were surface loading (surcharging), heating and mixing with additives (sand and straw) followed by surcharging. The properties of the laboratory-preconditioned snow were evaluated primarily in terms of footing penetration resistance and Rammsonde hardness. Based on the laboratory results, preconditioning of a deep natural snowpack was carried out. Surcharging the snowpack was achieved by a BV206 Carrier. The preconditioning techniques studied were surcharging, heating and mixing with additives (salt and straw). Various ageing periods were imposed. The load-carrying capacity of the preconditioned snowpack was evaluated by multipasses of two wheeled vehicles (Iltis and 5/4 ton truck). The results indicated that a soft deep snowpack can be preconditioned to the extent that it can support multipasses of wheeled vehicles.     

Geometry and differentiability requirements in multibody railroad vehicle dynamic formulations

The dynamic equations of multibody railroad vehicle systems can be formulated using different sets of generalized coordinates; examples of these sets of coordinates are the absolute Cartesian and trajectory coordinates. The absolute coordinate based formulations do not require introducing an intermediate track coordinate system since all the absolute coordinates are defined in the global system. On the other hand, when the trajectory coordinates are used, a track coordinate system that follows the motion of a body in the railroad vehicle system is introduced. This track coordinate system is defined by the track geometry and the distance traveled by the body along the track centerline. The configuration of the body with respect to the track coordinate system is defined using five coordinates; two translations and three Euler angles. In this paper, the formulations based on the absolute and trajectory coordinates are compared. It is shown that these two sets of coordinates require different degrees of differentiability and smoothness. When an elastic contact formulation is used to study the wheel/rail dynamic interaction, there are significant differences in the order of the derivatives required in both formulations. In fact, as demonstrated in this study, in the absence of a contact constraint formulation, higher order derivatives with respect to geometric parameters are still required when the equations are formulated using the trajectory coordinates. The formulation of the constraints used in the analysis of the wheel/rail contact is discussed and it is shown that when the absolute coordinates are used, only third order derivatives need to be evaluated. The relationship between the track frame used in railroad vehicle dynamics and the Frenet frame used in the theory of curves to describe the curve geometry is also discussed in this paper. Based on the analysis presented in this paper, the advantages and drawbacks of a hybrid method which employs both the absolute and trajectory coordinates and planar contact conditions in order to reduce the number of contact constraints and relax the differentiability requirements are discussed. In this method, the absolute coordinates are used to formulate the equations of motion of the railroad vehicle system. The absolute coordinate solution can be used to determine the trajectory coordinates and their time derivatives. Using the trajectory coordinates, the motion of the body in the vehicle with respect to the track coordinate system can be predicted and used in the formulation of the planar contact model.     

On vehicle mobility in snow-covered terrain — 1. Problem development and requirements for analysis

The problem of evaluation and prediction of vehicle mobility on snow-covered terrain needs to be studied not on the basis of application of direct technology transfer from vehicle mobility on soil, but on the basis of new perspectives on material (snowpack) properties and response performance. The complexities of snow identification and classification, arising from local environmental control and thermodynamic history, render analogies between snow and soil inapplicable. In addition, it is significant to note that in snow trafficability considerations, the first pass is the worst pass.     

Lift and power requirements of hovering insect flight

Lift and power requirements for hovering flight of eight species of insects are studied by solving the Navier-Stokes equation numerically. The solution provides velocity and pressure fields, from which unsteady aerodynamic forces and moments are obtained. The inertial torque of wing mass are computed analytically. The wing length of the insects ranges from 2 mm (fruit fly) to 52 mm (hawkmoth); Reynolds numbers Re (based on mean flapping speed and mean chord length) ranges from 75 to 3850. The primary findings are shown in the following: (1) Either small (R = 2mm, Re = 75), medium (R ≈ 10 mm, Re ≈ 500) or large (R ≈ 50 mm, Re ≈ 4 000) insects mainly employ the same high-lift mechanism, delayed stall, to produce lift in hovering flight. The midstroke angle of attack needed to produce a mean lift equal to the insect weight is approximately in the range of 25° to 45°, which is approximately in agreement with observation. (2) For the small insect (fruit fly) and for the medium and large insects with relatively small wingbeat frequency (cranefly, ladybird and hawkmoth), the specific power ranges from 18 to 39W·kg^-1 , the major part of the power is due to aerodynamic force, and the elastic storage of negative work does not change the specific power greatly. However for medium and large insects with relatively large wingbeat frequency (hover fly, dronefly, honey bee and bumble bee), the specific power ranges from 39 to 61 W·kg^-1 , the major part of the power is due to wing inertia, and the elastic storage of negative work can decrease the specific power by approximately 33%. (3) For the case of power being mainly contributed by aerodynamic force (fruit fly, cranefly, ladybird and hawkmoth), the specific power is proportional to the product of the wingbeat frequency, the stroke amplitude, the wing length and the drag-to-lift ratio. For the case of power being mainly contributed by wing inertia (hoverfly, dronefly, honey bee and bumble bee), the specific power (without elastic storage) is proportional to the product of the cubic of wingbeat frequency, the square of the stroke amplitude, the square of the wing length and the ratio of wing mass to insect mass.     

Study of the influence of vehicle parameters on tractive performance in deep snow

This paper describes an experimental study of tractive performance in deep snow, carried out with a new special skid steered tracked vehicle, developed by Bodin [1]. The vehicle design parameters studied include the influence of the ground clearance of the vehicle belly and the longitudinal location of the centre of gravity on tractive performance in deep snow, as well as the effect of initial track tension. The most important results from the test show that an increase in the ground clearance has a positive effect on the drawbar pull, originating from a greater increase in the thrust than in the track motion resistance and a slight decrease in the belly drag. Tests of the longitudinal location of the centre of gravity show that a location ahead of the midpoint of the track contact length is to be preferred. The drawbar pull increases with the centre of gravity moving forward. This is due to a reduced track motion resistance, a slight decrease in the belly drag and an almost constant vehicle thrust. The reason for the decreased track motion resistance and belly drag with the centre of gravity located ahead of the midpoint of the track contact length is a decreased vehicle trim angle.     

State reconstruction in a nonlinear vehicle suspension system using deep neural networks

Nonlinear Dynamics - In this paper, the optimal formation and optimal matching of a multi-robot system are investigated with a projection-based algorithm designed to get the optimal formation...     

Unsteady aerodynamic forces and power requirements of a bumblebee in forward flight

Aerodynamic forces and power requirements in forward flight in a bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) were studied using the method of computational fluid dynamics. Actual wing kinematic data of free flight were used in the study (the speed ranges from 0 m/s to 4.5 m/s; advance ratio ranges from 0–0.66). The bumblebee employs the delayed stall mechanism and the fast pitching-up rotation mechanism to produce vertical force and thrust. The leading-edge vortex does not shed in the translatory phase of the half-strokes and is much more concentrated than that of the fruit fly in a previous study. At hovering and low-speed flight, the vertical force is produced by both the half-strokes and is contributed by wing lift; at medium and high speeds, the vertical force is mainly produced during the downstroke and is contributed by both wing lift and wing drag. At all speeds the thrust is mainly produced in the upstroke and is contributed by wing drag. The power requirement at low to medium speeds is not very different from that of hovering and is relatively large at the highest speed (advance ratio 0.66), i.e. the power curve is J-shaped. Except at the highest flight speed, storing energy elastically can save power up to 20%–30%. At the highest speed, because of the large increase of aerodynamic torque and the slight decrease of inertial torque (due to the smaller stroke amplitude and stroke frequency used), the power requirement is dominated by aerodynamic power and the effect of elastic storage of energy on power requirement is limited.The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10232010) and the National Aeronautic Science fund of China (03A51049)The English text was polished by Xing Zhang.     

结合CFD和当地流活塞理论的全机组合体超声速颤振分析

针对翼．身组合体飞行器面对称布局的特点,利用模态振型的对称和反对称性,以分枝模态法建立结构的运动微分方程,结合CFD的当地流活塞理论计算飞行器的非定常气动力,建立飞行器全机组合体的气动弹性数学模型。对飞行器进行了来流为1．5～7马赫数下的颤振分析,结果与全CFD／CSD耦合时域仿真结果较好吻合,验证了本文方法在工程设计中的有效性和可行性。本文方法的效率在相同精度下比CFD／CSD耦合的时域方法高100倍。     

Reverse-rotational rotary tiller for reduced power requirement in deep tillage

In this paper details of rotary tillage regarding the movement of tilled soil are presented. A noticeable reduction of tillage power requirement was achieved during rotary tillage. The soil movement depended upon the direction of rotation and the ratio of tilling depth (H) to blade radius (R). With the differences in the soil movement, four kinds of rotary tilling patterns were determined. Increase in operating power generally resulted when a large amount of tilled soil was re-tilled in the zone of blade rotation. Improvement of backward throwing of the soil was required for power reduction, especially in deep tillage. A backward throwing model of soil by the blade was developed on the basis of trochoidal motion of the blade and sliding motion of the soil over a scoop-surface on the horizontal portion of the blade. The throwing model estimated the conditions for avoiding re-tillage, such as direction of rotation and shape of scoop-surface. The throwing model was applied to the design of the shape of the scoop-surface which enabled maximum backward throwing of the soil sufficient to avoid re-tilling. At tilling depths greater than 300 mm, reverse rotation with the new shaped blades brought about a tillage power reduction by about a half compared to forward or reverse rotation with conventional blades.     

基于功率谱的爆破地震能量分析方法

针对爆破振动频度-能量分布的定量分析问题,提出了一种基于功率谱的能量分析方法。功率谱密度表征了一定频率谐波分量能量的相对大小,以此为出发点,推导出可以表征爆破振动频度-能量分布的计算方法,结合工程实例的分析结果表明,利用该方法可以实现爆破振动频率构成的定量分析。同时将该方法与目前通用的小波变换能量分析方法作了比较,两者的原理是一致的,但基于功率谱的能量分析方法直接利用频谱分析完成从时域到频域的转化,因此分析过程简便,物理意义明确,更容易理解和掌握。     

An instrumented vehicle for offroad dynamics testing

The paper presents an instrumented vehicle that was equipped with measuring systems to perform complete dynamics tests, especially in off-road conditions. The equipment consists of four wheel dynamometers, a steering robot, and a differential GPS system together with an inertial platform, a non-contact vehicle speed sensor, and an on-board computer with software to control the devices and collect experimental data. The four wheel dynamometers measure six elements; based on strain gage force transducers, it measures three orthogonal forces and three moments. The steering robot can control the steering wheel of the vehicle at a variety of excitation modes; it can carry out typical vehicle dynamics tests (ISO 7401, ISO 4138, ISO/TR3888, etc.) as well as custom engineered tests at a wide range of setting parameters (steer angle rate up to 1600 deg/s). The differential GPS system gives true time vehicle kinematics data (velocities, accelerations, angles, etc.) at 10-ns sample rate and 20-mm accuracy. The base vehicle, a Suzuki Vitara 4 × 4, required no special modifications or changes to install the measuring equipment. The paper also describes typical tests performed with the use of the instrumented vehicle together with sample results.     

Dynamics analysis of slender vehicle influenced by random factors

In this paper, the aeroelastic problems of slender vehicles under the influence of random factors and thrust are studied. An aeroelastic dynamic model of a free-free Euler–Bernoulli beam considering thrust and aerodynamic forces is established based on Hamilton’s principle of nonconservative systems. On this basis, considering the influence of random factors, the elastic modulus and viscous drag are regarded as one-dimensional continuous stationary random fields and discretized. The stochastic finite element method is used to solve the dynamic model, and the results are compared with the Monte Carlo simulation results. Then, the influence of the correlation of the random field on the elastic displacement is further analyzed. The following simulation results are obtained: (1) the stochastic factor analysis model established in this paper can reflect the statistical characteristics of aeroelastic response well; (2) the stronger the correlation of the random field is, the greater the expectation of elastic displacement, but as the correlation increases, the expectation tends to be constant; and (3) it is necessary to choose the discrete length of the random field reasonably, and the discrete length depends on the correlation characteristics of the random field studied.     

车辆制动作用下的车辆-路面-桥梁系统随机振动分析

视车辆、路面体系和桥梁为整个系统,将车辆模拟成弹簧和阻尼器连接的多刚体,沥青路面层模拟成Kelvin模型支承的无限长梁,混凝土路面和主梁一起模拟成Euler-Bernoulli梁。应用弹性系统动力学总势能不变值原理和形成矩阵的"对号入座"法则,建立了系统的竖向运动方程;并运用协方差等效方法模拟了车轮随机输入非平稳时域模型。研究了车辆制动作用下的车辆-路面-桥梁耦合系统的振动特性。计算表明:在其他条件相同时,刹车时,混凝土路面层对应的冲击系数为沥青路面层所对应系数的1.31倍;刹车时间为0.3 s时对应的冲击系数为刹车时间0.6 s所对应的1.29倍;路面的不平状况加剧了车辆制动作用时对桥梁冲击系数的影响。     

水下航行体螺栓法兰连接结构可靠性分析

螺栓法兰连接结构中的摩擦、接触、间隙及预紧力等因素,会导致水下航行体结构在复杂载荷环境中出现非线性的动力学响应特性,甚至破坏连接结构.目前,常取指定时段内的各类内力最大值同时施加于连接结构进行可靠性分析,导致结构设计偏于保守.为解决此问题,本文基于随机水动力载荷作用下水下航行体结构内力响应数据,分析螺栓法兰连接结构在端面内力组合作用下的最大Mises应力,由此建立连接结构端面内力组合的极限状态面,利用最大熵方法开展螺栓法兰连接结构可靠性分析.为提高分析效率,根据连接结构端面各类内力在塑性极限状态面附近的线性相关性,提出以端面等效弯矩为指标的工程可靠性分析方法,并通过数值仿真分析对可靠性分析结果精度进行校核.     

基于hp自适应伪谱法的组合动力可重复使用运载器轨迹优化

针对传统化学火箭难以重复使用、发射成本高的问题,提出了一种水平起飞/降落的新一代可重复使用运载器飞行方案,并对其动力模式设计和上升段轨迹优化方法等关键技术进行深入研究。设计了一种涡轮\冲压发动机结合火箭\冲压发动机的组合动力模式,建立了发动机推力与高度、马赫数等变量间的耦合模型,根据动力形式将上升段轨迹分为两段并采用全局搜索法确定动力切换的最佳时机。根据分段结果,分别以燃料最省和终端速度最大为指标,利用hp自适应伪谱法对两段进行轨迹优化设计。该算法基于双层策略求解最优控制问题,兼备伪谱法和有限元法的优点,与打靶法、伪谱法和间接法相比,初值更易选取,收敛速度更快。     

软粘土深基坑开挖时间效应的有限元分析

目前对开挖工程一般只作总应力法分析,本文将Ｂｉｏｔ固结有限元用法饱和软粘土地基深基坑性状的研究,通过典型算例分析土体超散负孔压的分布及分步开挖工程的固结效应,阐述了开挖速率的影响。最后对某深开挖工程实例进行了分析,旨在为基坑工程的设计和施工提供参考。     

Bifurcation analysis of 4-axle rail vehicle models in a curved track

The dynamics of a diffusive predator–prey model with time delay and Michaelis–Menten-type harvesting subject to Neumann boundary condition is considered. Turing instability and Hopf bifurcation at positive equilibrium for the system without delay are investigated. Time delay-induced instability and Hopf bifurcation are also discussed. By the theory of normal form and center manifold, conditions for determining the bifurcation direction and the stability of bifurcating periodic solution are derived. Some numerical simulations are carried out for illustrating the theoretical results.