This dissertation aims to study the benefit of rail grinding on service life of railroad rails, focusing on failures due to rolling contact fatigue (RCF) at the rail head. Assuming a tangent rail with one-point contact at the running surface, a finite element analysis of a full-scale wheel-rail rolling contact with a nonlinear isotropic kinematic hardening material model is performed to simulate the accumulation of residual stresses and strains in the rail head. Using rolling stress and strain results from the sixth loading cycle, in which residual stresses and strains are at their steady-state, as input, two critical plane fatigue criteria are proposed for fatigue analyses. The first fatigue criterion is the stress-based approach—namely the Findley fatigue criterion. It suggests an important role of tensile residual stresses on subsurface crack nucleation and early growth in the rail head, but applications of the criterion to the near-running-surface region are limited because of plastic deformation from wheel-rail contact. The second fatigue criterion is the strain-based approach—namely the Fatemi-Socie fatigue criterion. Contributed mainly from shear strain amplitudes and factorized by normal stress components, the criterion also predicts fatigue crack nucleation at the subsurface as a possible failure mode as well as fatigue crack nucleation at the near-surface, while maintaining its validity in both regions. A collection of fatigue test data of various types of rail steel from literature is analyzed to determine a relationship between fatigue damages and number of cycles to failure. Considering a set of wheel loads with their corresponding number of rolling passage as a loading unit (LU), optimizations of grinding schedules with genetic algorithm (GA) show that fatigue life of rail increases by varying amount when compared against that from the no-grinding case. Results show that the proposed grinding schedules, optimized with the exploratory and local-search genetic algorithms, can increase fatigue life of rail by 240 percent. The optimization framework is designed to be able to determine a set of optimal grinding schedules for different types of rail steel and different contact configurations, i.e. two-point contact occurred when cornering.

Computer based simulation models have often been used to study the multimodal freight transportation system. But these studies have not been able to dynamically couple the various modes into one model; therefore, they are limited in their ability to inform on dynamic system level interactions. This research thesis is motivated by the need to dynamically couple the multimodal freight transportation system to operate at multiple spatial and temporal scales. It is part of a larger research program to develop a systems modeling framework applicable to freight transportation. This larger research program attempts to dynamically couple railroad, seaport, and highway freight transportation models. The focus of this thesis is the development of the coupled railroad and seaport models. A separate volume (Wall 2010) on the development of the highway model has been completed. The model railroad and seaport was developed using Arena® simulation software and it comprises of the Ports of Savannah, GA, Charleston, NC, Jacksonville, FL, their adjacent CSX rail terminal, and connecting CSX railroads in the southeastern U.S. However, only the simulation outputs for the Port of Savannah are discussed in this paper. It should be mentioned that the modeled port layout is only conceptual; therefore, any inferences drawn from the model's outputs do not represent actual port performance. The model was run for 26 continuous simulation days, generating 141 containership calls, 147 highway truck deliveries of containers, 900 trains, and a throughput of 28,738 containers at the Port of Savannah, GA. An analysis of each train's trajectory from origin to destination shows that trains spend between 24 - 67 percent of their travel time idle on the tracks waiting for permission to move. Train parking demand analysis on the adjacent shunting area at the multimodal terminal seems to indicate that there aren't enough containers coming from the port because the demand is due to only trains waiting to load. The simulation also shows that on average it takes containerships calling at the Port of Savannah about 3.2 days to find an available dock to berth and unload containers. The observed mean turnaround time for containerships was 4.5 days. This experiment also shows that container residence time within the port and adjacent multimodal rail terminal varies widely. Residence times within the port range from about 0.2 hours to 9 hours with a mean of 1 hour. The average residence time inside the rail terminal is about 20 minutes but observations varied from as little as 2 minutes to a high of 2.5 hours. In addition, about 85 percent of container residence time in the port is spent idle. This research thesis demonstrates that it is possible to dynamically couple the different sub-models of the multimodal freight transportation system. However, there are challenges that need to be addressed by future research. The principal challenge is the development of a more efficient train movement algorithm that can incorporate the actual Direct Traffic Control (DTC) and / or Automatic Block Signal (ABS) track segmentation. Such an algorithm would likely improve the capacity estimates of the railroad network. In addition, future research should seek to reduce the high computational cost imposed by a discrete process modeling methodology and the adoption of single container resolution level for terminal operations. A methodology combining both discrete and continuous process modeling as proposed in this study could lessen computational costs and lower computer system requirements at a cost of some of the feedback capabilities of the model This tradeoff must be carefully examined.

Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2009. / Title from screen (viewed on February 1, 2010). Department of History, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Marianne S. Wokeck, Jason M. Kelly, Anita J. Morgan. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-114).

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture: Professional)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / This design dissertation will deal with the making of a gateway or portal in order to improve the imageability of the campus. It is thus based on the upgrading and integration of the existing Metro Rail Station and the design of a student centre on the Pretoria Campus in order to become a social interactive arrival space serving the people of the institution. The architectural intervention is based on the principle of a gateway, that illustrates a notable transition when entering the campus. The concept of a horizontal timeline is adapted that is symbolic of the advancement of technological development of the knowledge and skills generated by the university.

This dissertation examines how honor was fashioned in the New South by examining the masculine roles performed by William Greene Raoul, Jr. Raoul wrote his autobiography in the mid-1930s and in it he reflected on his life on the New South's frontier at the turn of the century as change came to the region in all aspects of life: politically, economically, socially, sexually, and racially. Raoul was an elite son of the New South whose memoirs, "The Proletarian Aristocrat," reveals a man of multiple masculinities, each with particular ways of retrieving his past(s). The paradox of his title suggests the parallel organization of Raoul's recollections. The "aristocrat" framed the events of a lifetime through a lens of honor, sustained by southern gentlemen who restrained masculine impulses on the one hand and avoided dependency on the other. Raoul the "proletarian" cast honor through an ideological retrospective whereby traumatic memories of disappointment and failure were re-fashioned through a distinctly politicized view constructed rather than recalled. Raoul's business failures led him to re-conceptualize masculine honor as a quality possessed more by the emerging working class than the rising commercial class. Memory operates in this project as more than mere methodology as assumptions about access to the past through memory are subordinated to an examination of the meaning of the memories rehearsed by Raoul. Raoul wrote his autobiography at a bittersweet moment in his life. While his personal fortune had been nearly wiped out by the stock market crash of October 1929, he clearly looked back on his career in the New South as a committed radical with delight as the Great Depression called into question the legitimacy of the capitalist system that he had long held responsible for his own professional failures in a variety of endeavors, from the cotton-mill industry to box-car building and from saw manufacturing to a practicing accountant. Raoul converted to Socialism in part to join what he regarded as society's most progressive and virile force. It is these two voices, the proletarian and the aristocrat, that are under examination here.

Every year thousands of tons of chemicals are transported by railroad in Delaware County, Indiana. All the rail lines pass through the geographical center of Muncie. Because of population densities close to rail lines is high, the vulnerability is substantial for any kind of chemical spill.To respond to possible emergency problems, the latest technology is needed which can be used in the most efficient and fastest way, so that lives can be protected. GIS can provide detailed, and time sensitive information before and after the disaster, thereby increasing the ability to make better decisions during the time of emergency.According to Gosnell (2004), the Emergency Management Agency of Delaware County is least prepared for any kind of action plan if a chemical spill situation occurs. This research is intended to create an Emergency Management System for a hypothetical chemical spill involving all the five phases of operation using GIS so that it can be a demonstration for the emergency management agency of Delaware County of how such a situation can be planned from its initial stage to final stage of operation thereby the life, property and environment can be protected. / Department of Geography

Thesis (MS en S)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Public participation has already been a point of discussion from as early as 1960, with Arnstein's presentation of eight levels of participation. Various advantages and disadvantages have been published, but theorists agree that the advantages still overshadow the disadvantages. The United States have started much earlier than South Africa with the studies on public participation. It has been realised that public participation forms an integral part of the formal environmental impact assessment which succeeded the formal legislation of 1996. It is generally accepted that public participation is inseparable from the planning process. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of public participation on the planning of the Gautrain project, which is the intended rapid rail link between Johanesburg and Pretoria. It will be investigated whether the consult firm Bohlweki Environmental, that has been appointed to implement the environmental impact assessment of the Gautrain project, complied with the criteria to ensure public participation, and whether the public process made a difference to the planning of the project. It has been apparent that Bohlweki Environmental used various methods of involving the public - inter alia numerous public meetings that have been advertised in the press and elsewhere. From the public inputs changes have been made to the route of the train. These changes however, have made other people discontented. The research concludes with the finding that the public participation process of the environmental impact assessment had a positive influence on the planning of the project, even though everyone, due to the extend and the nature of the project, could not be satisfied, and that the study has been expensive and time consuming. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Publieke deelname was reeds 'n besprekingspunt van so vroeg as 1960 met Arnstein se voorstelling van agt deelnemingsvlakke. Oor die jare van navorsing is verskeie voordele en nadele van publieke deelname gepubliseer, maar teoretici is dit eens dat die voordele steeds die nadele oorskadu. In Suid-Afrika is daar veel later as in die Verenigde State studies oor publieke deelname begin. Ook hier is daar uiteindelik besef dat publieke deelname 'n onlosmaakbare deel van die formele omgewingsimpakstudie vorm en het die formele wetgewing in 1996 gevolg. Vandag word algemeen aanvaar dat publieke deelname en die beplanningsproses onafskeidbaar is. Die doel van hierdie werkstuk is om die impak van publieke deelname op die beplanning van die Gautrein projek te ondersoek - dit is die beoogde sneltrein tussen Johannesburg en Pretoria. Die vraag is of die konsultant firma Bohlweki Environmental, wat aangestel is om die omgewingsimpakstudie van die Gautreinprojek te loods, voldoen het aan die kriteria om publieke deelname te verseker, en of die publieke proses 'n verskil gemaak het aan die beplanning van die projek? Uit die analise het dit geblyk dat Bohlweki Environmental van verskeie metodes gebruik gemaak het om die publiek te betrek, onder andere talle publieke vergaderings wat goed geadverteer is in die pers en elders. As gevolg van die groot publieke inset is veranderinge aan die roete van die trein aangebring. Hierdie veranderinge het egter weer ander mense ontevrede gemaak. Die slotsom van die navorsing van hierdie werkstuk is dat die publieke deelname proses van die omgewingsimpakstudie wel 'n betekenisvolle positiewe uitwerking op die beplanning van die projek gehad het, alhoewel almal, uit die aard van die omvang van die projek, nie tevrede gestel kon word nie, en dat die studie duur en tydrowend was.

CAPES / Esta dissertação tem como proposta investigar o comportamento dinâmico de uma ponte ferroviária sob cargas móveis por meio do método dos elementos finitos. A análise é feita considerando a interação da via com a ponte e o veículo de forma desacoplada. O modelo do veículo utilizado possui 9 graus de liberdade composto de uma associação de corpos rígidos conectados via sistemas de suspensão. As respostas dinâmicas do veículo são obtidas devido à velocidade e irregularidades da via, que são consideradas como funções senoidais harmônicas e como funções randômicas, estas duas abordagens são comparadas. Em seguida, as forças do veículo são aplicadas através das rodas do veículo no modelo de interação viaestrutura. O comportamento dinâmico do modelo via-estrutura é estudado integrando o trilho, lastro e ponte. Os trilhos são modelados como elementos superiores de pórtico e a ponte como elementos inferiores de pórtico. Os dormentes e o lastro são modelados usando a fundação de Winkler para a translação. O método de Rayleigh é usado para calcular o amortecimento estrutural. As equações de movimento de ambos os sistemas são integradas usando o método de Newmark. A influência das irregularidades da via é analisada. / This master’s thesis aims to investigate the dynamic behavior of a railway bridge under moving loads using the finite element method. The analysis is made considering an uncoupled vehicle-bridge-track interaction. The vehicle studied is a 9 degrees-offreedom model composed of an association of rigid bodies connected via suspension systems. The dynamic responses of the vehicle are obtained due to the speed and tracks irregularities, which are considered as both harmonic sinusoidal functions and randomic functions. After that, the vehicle forces are applied on the railway track-bridge model throw the vehicle wheels. The dynamic behavior of the railway track-bridge model is studied integrating the rail, ballast, and bridge. The rails are modeled as an elastic Euler-Bernoulli upper beam and the bridge as an Euler-Bernoulli lower beam. The sleepers and ballast are modeled using Winkler foundation for translation. The Rayleigh method is used to define structural damping. The equations of motion of both systems are integrated using Newmark’s method. Track irregularities influence are analyzed.

CAPES / Esta dissertação tem como proposta investigar o comportamento dinâmico de uma ponte ferroviária sob cargas móveis por meio do método dos elementos finitos. A análise é feita considerando a interação da via com a ponte e o veículo de forma desacoplada. O modelo do veículo utilizado possui 9 graus de liberdade composto de uma associação de corpos rígidos conectados via sistemas de suspensão. As respostas dinâmicas do veículo são obtidas devido à velocidade e irregularidades da via, que são consideradas como funções senoidais harmônicas e como funções randômicas, estas duas abordagens são comparadas. Em seguida, as forças do veículo são aplicadas através das rodas do veículo no modelo de interação viaestrutura. O comportamento dinâmico do modelo via-estrutura é estudado integrando o trilho, lastro e ponte. Os trilhos são modelados como elementos superiores de pórtico e a ponte como elementos inferiores de pórtico. Os dormentes e o lastro são modelados usando a fundação de Winkler para a translação. O método de Rayleigh é usado para calcular o amortecimento estrutural. As equações de movimento de ambos os sistemas são integradas usando o método de Newmark. A influência das irregularidades da via é analisada. / This master’s thesis aims to investigate the dynamic behavior of a railway bridge under moving loads using the finite element method. The analysis is made considering an uncoupled vehicle-bridge-track interaction. The vehicle studied is a 9 degrees-offreedom model composed of an association of rigid bodies connected via suspension systems. The dynamic responses of the vehicle are obtained due to the speed and tracks irregularities, which are considered as both harmonic sinusoidal functions and randomic functions. After that, the vehicle forces are applied on the railway track-bridge model throw the vehicle wheels. The dynamic behavior of the railway track-bridge model is studied integrating the rail, ballast, and bridge. The rails are modeled as an elastic Euler-Bernoulli upper beam and the bridge as an Euler-Bernoulli lower beam. The sleepers and ballast are modeled using Winkler foundation for translation. The Rayleigh method is used to define structural damping. The equations of motion of both systems are integrated using Newmark’s method. Track irregularities influence are analyzed.

In this thesis, we propose an introduction to geophilosophy, understood as a philosophy of relationship between the subject, the place and the everyday life in the context of modernity. At first the understandings are presented from which the researchers deal with the term geophilosophy , to then be introduced the concept of the word that matters to this research, as well as its theoretical and methodological foundation. In its practical aspect, the research investigates a particular phenomenon: the period in which the region of the Triângulo Mineiro had the railroad passenger train, which circulated in the region during the period of a little more than a century (1889-1997). On the occasion of his installation, the railroad train changed the landscape and places, changing old living relations and enabling the emergence of new relations and a new way of life that, over time, and not without contradictions is no longer new and strange, to be incorporated into the day-to-day. A specific aspect of this process is of particular interest, namely: after a century since its installation, the railroad train passengers left the region. The goal is to discuss the representations and objective and subjective impact of passenger transport disruption on railway lines in the localities of the Triângulo Mineiro region. Inferences found, from the consultation to documents, texts and dialogues with people who lived through the railroad train of everyday life in the region, reveal that there is a debt, not always recognized, the locations studied towards the passenger railroad train and with people who were part of their daily lives. Is present in this work is also a global approach to the relationship between the subject, the place and the world. We conclude that the globalized world suffocates the place and the human person and at the same time and dialectically, overwhelms the person and therefore also stifles the place. However, it is clear that, however totalizing it is, modernity cannot be absolute and always leaves a place to the residue. This is one of the faces of modernity, that the geophilosophy, in this study, lists. / Nesta tese, propõe-se uma introdução à geofilosofia, entendida como uma filosofia da relação entre o sujeito, o lugar e o cotidiano, no contexto da modernidade. A princípio, são apresentados os entendimentos a partir dos quais os pesquisadores lidam com o termo geofilosofia , para então ser introduzida a concepção da palavra que interessa a esta pesquisa, bem como a sua fundamentação teórico-metodológica. No seu aspecto prático, a pesquisa investiga um fenômeno em particular: o período em que a região do Triângulo Mineiro contou com o trem de ferro de passageiros, que operou na região durante o período de um pouco mais de um século (1889 a 1997). Por ocasião de sua instalação, o trem de ferro alterou a paisagem e os lugares, modificando velhas relações de convivência e possibilitando o surgimento de novas relações e de um novo modo de vida que, com o passar do tempo, e não sem contradições, deixou de ser novo e estranho, para ser incorporado ao dia-a-dia da região. Um aspecto específico deste processo interessa especialmente, a saber: passado um século desde a sua instalação, o trem de ferro de passageiros deixou a região. O objetivo é discorrer sobre as representações e repercussões objetivas e subjetivas da interrupção do transporte de passageiros em linhas férreas nas localidades da região do Triângulo Mineiro. As inferências encontradas, a partir da consulta a documentos, textos e diálogos com pessoas que viveram o cotidiano do trem de ferro na região, revelam que há uma dívida, nem sempre reconhecida, das localidades estudadas para com o trem de ferro de passageiros e para com as pessoas que fizeram parte do seu cotidiano. Faz-se presente neste trabalho, também, uma abordagem global da relação entre o sujeito, o lugar e o mundo. Conclui-se que o mundo globalizado sufoca o lugar e a pessoa humana e, ao mesmo tempo e dialeticamente, oprime a pessoa e, por isso, também sufoca o lugar. No entanto, evidencia-se que, por mais totalizadora que seja, a modernidade não consegue ser absoluta e sempre deixa um lugar para o resíduo. Essa é uma das faces da modernidade, que a geofilosofia, neste estudo, enumera. / Mestre em Geografia