This thesis consists of three original short stories: "August Morning," "Weekend Idyll," and "Free Ride." In addition, an appendix has been added which contains "Hamilton House Roundabout," the original version of "Weekend Idyll." It is included to illustrate the dramatic changes that can occur in the writing process. "August Morning" focuses on a young man's struggle to gain his freedom from his family, particularly his overbearing father. Whether or not he succeeds is ultimately up to the reader. "Weekend Idyll" follows a young woman as she tries to live a dream she has long believed in. Ultimately, her vision is shattered. The final story, "Free Ride," centers on a hapless teenager who finds happiness only in the exhiliaration of racing. Ultimately, it kills him. I wrote stories rather than an analysis primarily for practical reasons. As a teacher I found an exercise in writing more readily transferrable to my classroom.

Esta tese relata e discute informações obtidas em ações para tentar mostrar que o uso de conceitos sobre auditoria de qualidade e análise de correlação canônica pode contribuir para identificar itens que facilitem classificar tópicos para verificação de conformidade de especificações para construção ou controle de componentes de rodovias. O nível para qualidade de viagens pode ser analisado através da busca de uma expressão de necessidades e expectativas de motoristas e passageiros. Estudos sobre especificações de componentes de rodovias deveriam conter recomendações que contribuam para a qualidade de viagem, por entrosar conseqüências de uso de determinações técnicas com ações para atender às expectativas e necessidades dos que julgam a viagem. O uso da técnica e dos conceitos sobre auditoria, em conjunto com a análise de correlação canônica pode contribuir para classificar medidas ou contagens sobre variáveis que descrevem características físicas de rodovias do ponto de vista de melhoria de conforto e segurança a motoristas e passageiros. / This thesis reports and discusses information obtained from actions trying to show that the use of concepts on quality auditing and canonical correlation analysis can contribute to identify items to facilitate the classification of topics for verification on specifications conformity for the construction or the control of highways components. The level for ride quality can be analyzed through the search of an expression of needs and expectations of drivers and passengers. Studies about highway components specifications should contain recommendations to contribute for improving the ride quality, for gearing consequences of using technical determinations with actions to assist the expectations and needs of the ride judgers. The use of the auditing technique and concepts, together with the canonical correlation analysis can contribute to classify measures on variables that describe physical characteristics of highways on the point of view of comfort and safety improvement to drivers and passengers.

Esta tese relata e discute informações obtidas em ações para tentar mostrar que o uso de conceitos sobre auditoria de qualidade e análise de correlação canônica pode contribuir para identificar itens que facilitem classificar tópicos para verificação de conformidade de especificações para construção ou controle de componentes de rodovias. O nível para qualidade de viagens pode ser analisado através da busca de uma expressão de necessidades e expectativas de motoristas e passageiros. Estudos sobre especificações de componentes de rodovias deveriam conter recomendações que contribuam para a qualidade de viagem, por entrosar conseqüências de uso de determinações técnicas com ações para atender às expectativas e necessidades dos que julgam a viagem. O uso da técnica e dos conceitos sobre auditoria, em conjunto com a análise de correlação canônica pode contribuir para classificar medidas ou contagens sobre variáveis que descrevem características físicas de rodovias do ponto de vista de melhoria de conforto e segurança a motoristas e passageiros. / This thesis reports and discusses information obtained from actions trying to show that the use of concepts on quality auditing and canonical correlation analysis can contribute to identify items to facilitate the classification of topics for verification on specifications conformity for the construction or the control of highways components. The level for ride quality can be analyzed through the search of an expression of needs and expectations of drivers and passengers. Studies about highway components specifications should contain recommendations to contribute for improving the ride quality, for gearing consequences of using technical determinations with actions to assist the expectations and needs of the ride judgers. The use of the auditing technique and concepts, together with the canonical correlation analysis can contribute to classify measures on variables that describe physical characteristics of highways on the point of view of comfort and safety improvement to drivers and passengers.

The carbody plays an important role in rail vehicle dynamics.This thesis aims atdeveloping validated modelling methods tostudy its dynamics, how it is excited on trackand how itinteracts with the passengers. The primary interest is ridecomfort,considering vibrations up to 20 Hz. In this frequencyrange, the structural flexibility ofthe carbody is of majorconcern. The models are intended for use intime-domainsimulation, calling for small-sized models to reducecomputational time and costs. Keyparameters are proposed toselect carbody eigenmodes for inclusion in a flexiblemultibodymodel, and to quantify the interaction between passengers andcarbody. Extensive comparisons between measurements and correspondingsimulations arecarried out in a case study. On-track measurementsare performed to obtain operatingdeflection shapes and powerspectral densities of the accelerations in the carbody.Thecomplete vehicle is modelled using the pieces of softwareGENSYS (flexible multibodymodel) and ANSYS (finite element modelof the carbody). Actual, measured trackirregularities are used asinput. In order to investigate the influence of passengerload,experimental modal analysis of the carbody is performed withand without passengers.Also, amplitude dependence is examined.Simple models, based on human-body modelsfrom literature, of thepassenger-carbody system are proposed and validated.Verticalseating dynamics is considered. The models areimplemented and tested in the casestudy. Finally, ideas on modelreduction and approximation are presented and applied. The main conclusions drawn from the study are that     the structural flexibility of the carbody must be takeninto account when predictingvertical vibration comfort. It ispossible to predict which carbody modes that willcontributemost to the vibrations.     the carbody dynamical properties depend on the excitationamplitude.     passengers and carbody interact significantly.- theproposed models describe the interaction quite well. Theproposed passenger-carbodymodel gives an upper boundary on theinteraction.     the proposed passenger-seat-carbody model can be used tostudy the influence of theseat parameters on the interaction.This merits to be investigated further, however. <b>Keywords</b>: Carbody, Experimental modal analysis, Human-bodydynamics, Modelreduction, Multibody dynamics, Operatingdeflection shapes, Rail-vehicle dynamics,Ride comfort, Seatingdynamics, Structural dynamics.

<p>The carbody plays an important role in rail vehicle dynamics.This thesis aims atdeveloping validated modelling methods tostudy its dynamics, how it is excited on trackand how itinteracts with the passengers. The primary interest is ridecomfort,considering vibrations up to 20 Hz. In this frequencyrange, the structural flexibility ofthe carbody is of majorconcern. The models are intended for use intime-domainsimulation, calling for small-sized models to reducecomputational time and costs. Keyparameters are proposed toselect carbody eigenmodes for inclusion in a flexiblemultibodymodel, and to quantify the interaction between passengers andcarbody.</p><p>Extensive comparisons between measurements and correspondingsimulations arecarried out in a case study. On-track measurementsare performed to obtain operatingdeflection shapes and powerspectral densities of the accelerations in the carbody.Thecomplete vehicle is modelled using the pieces of softwareGENSYS (flexible multibodymodel) and ANSYS (finite element modelof the carbody). Actual, measured trackirregularities are used asinput. In order to investigate the influence of passengerload,experimental modal analysis of the carbody is performed withand without passengers.Also, amplitude dependence is examined.Simple models, based on human-body modelsfrom literature, of thepassenger-carbody system are proposed and validated.Verticalseating dynamics is considered. The models areimplemented and tested in the casestudy. Finally, ideas on modelreduction and approximation are presented and applied.</p><p>The main conclusions drawn from the study are that</p><p>    the structural flexibility of the carbody must be takeninto account when predictingvertical vibration comfort. It ispossible to predict which carbody modes that willcontributemost to the vibrations.</p><p>    the carbody dynamical properties depend on the excitationamplitude.</p><p>    passengers and carbody interact significantly.- theproposed models describe the interaction quite well. Theproposed passenger-carbodymodel gives an upper boundary on theinteraction.</p><p>    the proposed passenger-seat-carbody model can be used tostudy the influence of theseat parameters on the interaction.This merits to be investigated further, however.</p><p><b>Keywords</b>: Carbody, Experimental modal analysis, Human-bodydynamics, Modelreduction, Multibody dynamics, Operatingdeflection shapes, Rail-vehicle dynamics,Ride comfort, Seatingdynamics, Structural dynamics.</p>

<p>An essential tool in the truck development process is the ability to quantify and grade vehicle dynamic behavior. Today this is performed either through subjective or objective tests. Subjective tests have the disadvantage that numerous factors influence test drivers’ opinions while objective measures have the advantage of repeatability. However, objective methods of today are often only able to provide a rough grading of vehicles. The main objective with this thesis is to develop more sensitive objective methods for ride comfort evaluation.</p><p>An effective test procedure to measure driver perception sensitivity to small differences in vehicle ride is suggested and utilized. The driver sensitivity is tested on dynamic behavior that is typically graded in vehicle development. Cab motions from a truck are first measured and then recreated in a simulator where a test driver is seated. The perception threshold for small changes in typical vehicle motion is established in this way for each test person.</p><p>The perception sensitivity tests indicate that humans are quite sensitive to transients in vehicle motion. One problem with many common vehicle ride measures is that the impact of transient behavior is small due to the averaging used to condense the measurement data into scalar measures. A new evaluation method for ride comfort, with influences from the well known handling diagram, is suggested. This method has four main advantages: it is fairly simple to interpret, it shows the absolute vibration level, it considers transient events separately and it shows changes in vehicle character with increasing excitation. Promising results from both measurements and simulations are derived.</p><p>New technology has made it possible to vary vehicle suspension parameters during vehicle ride. In order to prescribe different damping for different vehicle modes, modal motion estimates are needed. A system identification approach is suggested. It yields improved estimates of vehicle modal motion compared to previous work.</p>

Due to growing concerns over climate change, more and more countries are looking to renewable energy sources to generate electricity. Therefore, wind turbines are increasing in popularity, along with doubly-fed induction machines (DFIGs) used in generation mode. Current grids codes require DFIGs to provide voltage support during a grid fault. The fault ride-through (FRT) capability of DFIGs is the focus of this thesis, in which modifications to the DFIG controller have been proposed to improve the FRT capability. The static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) controller has been applied with proposed method to study its influence on the voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC). The proposed method was also compared with other FRT capability improvement methods, including the conventional crowbar method. The simulation of the dynamic behaviour of DFIG-based wind turbines during grid fault is simulated using MATLAB/Simulink. The results obtained clearly demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method.

Vårt magisterarbete är en 3D-animation som ska simulera en bergochdalbana. Vår uppgift har varit att ta reda på hur man genom illusioner kan lura människans hjärna att se djup även då bilden är helt platt. Vårt främsta verktyg vi använt oss av är glasögon med röd- och cyanfärgade filter. Till vår produktion har vi anlitat andra studenter för att komponera musik och mixa 5.1-ljud. Allt för att öka upplevelsen ännu mer. / Detta är en reflektionsdel till en digital medieproduktion. Mattias e-mail: mape78@gmail.com, Johan e-mail: atra@telia.com

Cette thèse porte sur la modélisation et la résolution de différents problèmes de tournées de véhicules et plus particulièrement sur des problèmes de transport de personnes. Ces problèmes, demandent, entre autre, de respecter une qualité de service minimale pour les solutions proposées. Pour résoudre ces problèmes, plusieurs méthodes d'optimisation de type métaheuristique sont proposées pour obtenir des solutions de bonne qualité dans des temps raisonnables. Trois problèmes sont traités successivement : le DARP, le TDVRP, le SDARP. Le premier est un problème de transport à la demande (DARP - Dial-A-Ride Problem) qui est le problème de transport de personnes le plus connu de la littérature. Il est proposé dans ce chapitre une méthode de type ELS qui a été comparée aux meilleures méthodes publiées. Les tests montrent que la méthode ELS est compétitive en termes de temps de calcul et de qualité des résultats. Le deuxième problème est une extension du problème de tournées de véhicules (VRP - Vehicle Routing Problem) dans lequel les temps de trajet entre les sommets varient au cours de la journée (TDVRP - Time Dependent Vehicle Routing Problem). Dans ce problème, une distinction existe entre les temps de conduite et les temps de travail des chauffeurs. La différence entre les deux correspond aux temps de pause. Ils sont utilisés ici durant les tournées pour éviter aux chauffeurs de conduire durant les périodes à fort ralentissement du trafic. La méthode proposée permet entre autre de positionner stratégiquement ces pauses afin de réduire le temps de conduite et de proposer de nouvelles solutions. Le dernier problème traité concerne la résolution d'un DARP stochastique. Dans ce problème, les temps de trajet entre les clients ne sont plus déterministes, et ils sont modélisés par une loi de probabilité. L'objectif est de déterminer des solutions robustes aux fluctuations des temps de trajets sur les arcs. Une première approche a permis de calculer des solutions robustes qui ont une probabilité importante d'être réalisables, une seconde approche a permis de générer un ensemble de solutions offrant un équilibre entre la robustesse et le coût. / In this thesis, we are interested in modeling and solving various vehicle routing problems (VRP), especially passenger transportation problems. These problems aim at finding solutions which guarantee a required quality of service. Several metaheuristics are proposed to obtain high quality solutions within reasonable time. Three problems are addressed: the Dial-A-Ride Problem (DARP), the Time-Dependent Vehicle Routing Problem (TDVRP) and the Stochastic DARP (SDARP). The DARP is a well-known on-demand transportation problem. We propose an Evolutionary Local Search (ELS) method. It relies on a new randomized constructive heuristic and on adaptive probabilities for selecting neighborhood structures. This approach is compared with existing methods on classical instances. Results show the interest of the proposed method. The TDVRP is an extension of VRP in which the transportation time varies throughout the day. The driving time is separated from the drivers working time and the difference corresponds to the resting time. The resting time is used to avoid driving during highly congested periods. The proposed method set these resting times in order to reduce the driving time. Hence new solutions avoiding congestion as much as possible are proposed. In the SDARP, the travel time between clients is stochastic and thus follows a probability distribution. The objective is to compute robust solutions, i.e. solutions which handle variations of the transportation time. Two approaches are proposed for this problem. The first one produces robust solutions that have a significant probability of staying feasible. The second one generates a set of compromise solutions, balancing the robustness and the cost.

Vehicle dynamic simulations form a significant part of the design and development process of vehicles. These simulations are used to study and improve the vehicle’s durability, ride comfort and handling capabilities. All forces acting on the vehicle are either generated in the tyre-road interface or are due to aerodynamic effects, where at low speeds the latter one can be ignored. The accuracy of the tyre model describing the forces on the tyre-road interface is thus of exceptional importance. It ensures that the simulation model is an accurate representation of the actual vehicle. Various approaches are adopted when developing mathematical tyre models. Many of these models are developed to study the handling capabilities of passenger cars over a smooth road. Passenger car tyres are the focal point as larger tyres introduce some difficulties due to their size and load rating. Off-road truck tyres also differ in their construction which will influence force and moment generation of the tyre. Research efforts are increasing to meet the need of tyre models that can describe the behaviour of the tyre over uneven terrain with sufficient accuracy. This thesis addresses the question of whether existing mathematical tyre models can accurately describe the forces and moments generated by a large off-road tyre while driving over rough terrain. The complexity of different mathematical tyre models varies greatly, as does the parameterisation efforts required to obtain the model parameters. The parameterization of most tyre models relies on some experimental test data that is used to extract the necessary information to fit model parameters. The selection of a suitable tyre model for a simulation is often dependent on the availability of such experimental data and the effort to identify the required parameters. In this study the parameterisation process for four different tyre models, are discussed in detail to highlight the difficulties in acquiring the test data and the effort to parameterize the model. The models considered are the One Point Contact, 3D Equivalent Volume contact, 3D Enveloping Contact and FTire model. Experimental measurements are conducted on a 16.00R20 Michelin XZL tyre. Laboratory tests, as well as field tests, over discrete obstacles and uneven hard surfaces are used for parameterisation and validation purposes. Simulation results are compared to experimental test data to determine whether the models could be used to describe the tyre road interactions with sufficient accuracy. Recommendations are made for tyre model selection and model accuracy for simulations over rough off-road surfaces. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted