This study aims to model a regional rail based intermodal transport system and to examine the feasibility of it through a case study for a shipper of daily consumables distributing in an urban area and to evaluate it regarding cost and emissions. The idea of an intermodal line train is that of making intermediate stops along the route thus enabling the coverage of a larger market area than conventional intermodal services, hence reducing the high cost associated with feeder transports, the congestion on the road network and generated externalities. The results of the case study indicate that the most critical parameters for the feasibility of such a system are the loading space utilization of the train and the cost for terminal handling. / <p>QC 20130531</p> / Regional kombitransportsystem i Mälardalen

The Gold Line Foothill Extension represents an unprecedented light rail expansion into the San Gabriel Valley from downtown Los Angeles. In examining its potential for success, transit-oriented development (TOD) appears to be an integral factor and a major opportunity to redraw growth patterns along the corridor. TOD opportunities and challenges are investigated throughout the Foothill Extension, and three towns in particular, Claremont, Monrovia, and Irwindale, are examined on the basis of their varying levels of TOD planning. The corridor features many infill sites with potential for high density development near new Gold Line stations, but implementation of some TOD sites should be delayed until improvements in the economy can create appropriate short-term demand for office and retail space.

Ground-borne vibration from underground rail vehicles is studied analytically. A previously developed model by J.A.Forrest and H.E.M.Hunt is modified to account for different track and vehicle models. The tunnel is modeled as infinite cylindrical shell surrounded by viscoelastic soil. The track is coupled to the tunnel with supports of complex stiffness. The rails, which are modeled as infinite Euler beams, are supported by discrete sleepers with regular spacing, and railpads with complex stiffness. A modified hysteretic damping model for moving loads is applied to soil. Linearized Hertzian contact spring is included between the wheel and the rail. The solution is obtained in frequency domain using random process theory. Effects of improvements in the model are graphically presented to enable comparison with the previously developed model and measurements from literature.

The main objective of this work is to develop models using multivariable regression and artificial neural network approaches for cost estimation of the construction costs of trackworks of light rail transit and metro projects at the early stages of the construction process in Turkey. These two approaches were applied to a data set of 16 projects by using seventeen parameters available at the early design phase. According to the results of each method, regression analysis estimated the cost of testing samples with an error of 2.32%. On the other hand, artificial neural network estimated the cost with 5.76% error, which is slightly higher than the regression error. As a result, two successful cost estimation models have been developed within the scope of this study. These models can be beneficial while taking the decision in the tender phase of projects that includes trackworks.

Launchers are military systems that are responsible for communication with munitions, safe seperation and aiming of rockets and missiles to the target. Since they are military equipments, they are used in harsh environments. One of the most important design considerations for military equipment is its maintability and one of the most important parameter which affects the maintability is wear in launchers. Therefore, for predicting the life-time of a launcher, wear should be investigated beside other parameters such as fatigue etc. This thesis study includes experimental and modeling study about dry sliding wear in some mechanical parts of a typical rail launcher that is used in helicopters. Firstly, measurements about the material loss, which is generated during firing of missiles, were made on launcher components which have interfaces with missile. Then, these results were used to simulate the wear phenomenon by using a commercial finite element program, ANSYS. By the help of finite element model, crack initiation period depending on wear is tried to be evaluated without making additional firing tests.

Constructed wetlands had been used for water treatment worldwide. The efficiency of wastewater treatment in a constructed wetland depends on its design, types of aquatic plants and microbial community present in this wetland. The goal of this study is to analyze the microbial populations in KaoPing River Rail Bridge constructed wetland which was designed to remove the polluted material from municipal sewage and industrial wastewater. Sediment and water samples were collected every 3 months from April, 2007 to April, 2008. The bacterial community diversities were analyzed by PCR-DGGE of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Results show approximately 60% BOD, 41% COD, 46% nitrate, 22% total nitrogen, and 97% coliforms were removed by this wetland system. DGGE profiles revealed the bacterial community diversities shifted progressively from the entry to the exit of both A and B systems in this wetland. The microbial populations in water, sediment, biofilms on plants, and soil were quite different from each others. The fecal indicator Escherichia coli was used as a marker to monitor the fecal contamination in all samples. From PCR-DGGE profiles, E. coli could be successfully removed by this wetland system. In conclusion, this constructed wetland is a very successful system for wastewater treatment and is able to remove most of the pollutants before they are discharged into KaoPing River. The results of this study provided useful suggestions for the government to assess the bacterial diversities and the efficiency of this wetland system, to protect people from hazardous risks, and to manage a constructed wetland in the future.

The objective of this work has been to investigate the applicability of the gas gun to study the armature-rail interface wear characteristics relevant to rail gun operations. The approach involved developing constitutive models for armature materials (aluminum 6061) as well as oxygen-free high-thermal conductivity copper as the rail material. Taylor rod-on-anvil impact experiments were performed to validate the accuracy of constitutive strength models by correlating predictions of dynamic simulations in ANSYS AUTODYN with experimental observations. An optical comparator was used to discretize the cross sectional deformation profile of each rod-shaped sample. Parameters of the Johnson-Cook strength model were adjusted for each material to match deformation profiles obtained from simulations with profiles obtained from impact experiments. The fitted Johnson-Cook model parameters for each material were able to give overall deformed length and diameter values within 2% of the experimentally observed data. Additional simulations were then used with the validated strength model parameters to design the geometry involving cylindrical rods of armature material accelerated through a concentric cylindrical extrusion die made of copper, to emulate the interface wear effects produced in a rail gun operation. Experiments were conducted using this geometry and employing both the 7.62mm and 80mm diameter gas guns. Microstructural analysis was conducted on interfaces of the recovered samples from both designs. Hardness measurements were also performed along the interface layer to evaluate the structure formation due to solid-state wear or melt formation. The stress and strain conditions resulting in the observed microstructural effects were correlated with predictions from numerical simulations performed using the validated material models. The overall results illustrate that the stress-strain conditions produced during acceleration of Al through hollow concentric copper extrusion die, result in interface deformation and wear characteristics that are influenced by velocity. At velocities (less than 800m/s), interface wear leads to formation of layer dominated by solid-state alloying of Cu and Al, while higher velocities produce a melted and re-solidified aluminum layer. Hence, use of different armature (Al-based) and rail (Cu-based) materials can be evaluated with the gas-gun set-up employed in the current work to study the effects of interface wear ranging from formation melt layer to solid-state alloying as a function of material properties and velocity.

This thesis compares German transit systems to the transit system of Atlanta, Georgia. Different performance measures are used to assess the difference in the respective rail and bus systems. The results show that the German transit systems are overall more successful and efficient than the system in Atlanta.

<p>The work presented in this thesis studies the load and loadeffects of traffic loads on railway bridges. The increasedknowledge of the traffic loads, simulated using fieldmeasurements of actual trains, are employed in a reliabilityanalysis in an attempt at upgrading existing railwaybridges.</p><p>The study utilises data from a weigh-in-motion site whichrecords, for each train, the train speed, the loads from eachaxle and the axle spacings. This data of actual trainconfigurations and axle loads are portrayed as moving forcesand then used in computer simulations of trains crossing twodimensional simply supported bridges at constant speed. Onlysingle track short to medium span bridges are considered in thethesis. The studied load effect is the moment at mid-span. Fromthe computer simulations the moment history at mid-span isobtained.</p><p>The load effects are analysed by two methods, the first isthe classical extreme value theory where the load effect ismodelled by the family of distributions called the generalisedextreme value distribution (GEV). The other method adopts thepeaks-over-threshold method (POT) where the limiting family ofdistributions for the heights to peaks-over-threshold is theGeneralised Pareto Distribution (GPD). The two models aregenerally found to be a good representation of the data.</p><p>The load effects modelled by either the GEV or the GPD arethen incorporated into a reliability analysis in order to studythe possibility of raising allowable axle loads on existingSwedish railway bridges. The results of the reliabilityanalysis show that they are sensitive to the estimation of theshape parameter of the GEV or the GPD.</p><p>While the study is limited to the case of the ultimate limitstate where the effects of fatigue are not accounted for, thefindings show that for the studied cases an increase inallowable axle load to 25 tonnes would be acceptable even forbridges built to the standards of 1940 and designed to LoadModel A of that standard. Even an increase to both 27.5 and 30tonnes appears to be possible for certain cases. It is alsoobserved that the short span bridges ofapproximately fourmetres are the most susceptible to a proposed increase inpermissible axle load.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>bridge, rail, traffic load, load effect,dynamic amplification factor, extreme value theory,peaks-over-threshold, reliability theory, axle loads, fielddata.</p>

Thesis--Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.