Search

The objective of this study is to investigate lane-changing characteristics in freeway off-ramp areas using Shanghai Naturalistic Driving Study (SH-NDS) data, considering a four-lane freeway stretch in various traffic conditions. In SH-NDS, the behavior of drivers is observed unobtrusively in a natural setting for a long period of time. We identified 433 lane-changing events with valid time series data from the whole dataset. Based on the logit model developed to analyze the choice of target lanes, a likelihood analysis of lane-changing behavior was graphed with respect to three traffic conditions: free flow, medium flow, and heavy flow. The results suggested that lane-changing behavior of exiting vehicles is the consequence of the balance between route plan (mandatory incentive) and expectation to improve driving condition (discretionary incentive). In higher traffic density, the latter seems to play a significant role. Furthermore, we found that lane-change from the slow lane to the fast lane would lead to higher speed variance value, which indicates a higher crash risk. The findings contribute to a better understanding on drivers' natural driving behavior in freeway off-ramp areas and can provide important insight into road network design and safety management strategies., 1. Introduction Innovative technologies and traffic data sources provide great potential to extend advanced strategies and methods in road safety research. Advances in traffic safety modeling and analysis will play [...]

The combustion temperature and progress control problems are key factors to ensure the production quality of metallurgy lime kiln. The combustion process of lime kiln is a nonlinear and large time-delay thermal process, so it is difficult to achieve satisfactory results by the traditional proportional integral derivative control, fuzzy control, or predictive control. This article analyses physics and chemistry mechanism of the combustion process and expounds the complex nonlinear, multivariable and large time-delay characteristics, and the control target of the production system. Then, the mathematical model of combustion control system is deduced in view of the requirements of simulation. Based on these, the fuzzy predictive control scheme is employed. Through simulation, the control algorithm is verified to be effective. Finally, the industrial sleeve kiln as a practical example is used to demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the control algorithm. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 249-258, 2016 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]