An ontology-based similarity measurement for problem-based case reasoning

Author name used in this publication: Adela Lau2008-2009 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Enhancement of Heavy-Duty Engines Performance and Reliability Using Cylinder Pressure Information

Sustainability issues are becoming increasingly prominent in applications requiring the use of heavy-duty engines. Therefore, it is important to cut emissions and costs of such engines to re-duce the carbon footprint and keep the operating expenses under control. Even if for some applications a battery electric equipment is introduced, the diesel-equipped machinery is still popular, thanks to the longer operating range. In this field, the open pit mines are a good example. In fact, the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the mining equipment is highly impacted by fuel consumption (engine efficiency) and reliability (service interval and en-gine life). The present work is focused on efficiency enhancements achievable through the ap-plication of a combustion control strategy based on the in-cylinder pressure information. The benefits are mainly due to two factors. First, the negative effects of injectors ageing can be com-pensated. Second, cylindrical online calibration of the control parameters enables the combus-tion system optimization. The article is divided into two parts. The first part describes the tool-chain that is designed for the real time application of the combustion control system, while the second part concerns the algorithm that would be implemented on the Engine Control Unit (ECU) to leverage the in-cylinder pressure information. The assessment of the potential benefits and feasibility of the combustion control algorithm is carried out in a Software in the Loop (SiL) environment, simulating both the developed control strategy and the engine behavior (Liebherr D98). Our goal is to validate the control algorithm through SiL simulations. The results of the validation process demonstrate the effectiveness of the control strategy: firstly, cylinder dispari-ty on IMEP (+/-2.5% in reference conditions) is virtually canceled. Secondly, MFB50 is individual-ly optimized, equalizing Pmax among the cylinders (+/-4% for the standard calibration), without exceeding the reliability threshold. In addition to this, BSFC is reduced by 1%, thanks to the ac-curate cylinder-by-cylinder calibration. Finally, ageing effects or fuel variations can be implicitly compensated, keeping optimal performance thorough engine life

Measurements, Models, Systems and Design

531 s.

Safety Hazard and Risk Identification and Management In Infrastructure Management

Infrastructure such as transportation networks improves the condition of everyday lives by facilitating public services and systems necessary for economic activity and growth. However, constructing and maintaining transportation infrastructure poses safety hazards and risks to those working at the sharp end, leading to serious injuries and fatalities. Therefore, the identification of hazards and managing the risks they create is integral towards continually improving safety levels in Infrastructure Management. This work seeks to fully understand this problem and highlight past, present and future issues concerning safety in a comprehensive literature review. A decision support tool is proposed to improve the safety of transportation workers by facilitating hazard identification and management of associated control measures. This Tool facilitates the extraction of safety knowledge from real paper-based safety documents, capturing existing worker’s knowledge and experiences from industrial ‘corporate memory’. The Tool suggests the most appropriate control measures for new scenarios based on existing knowledge from previous work tasks. This is achieved by classifying work tasks using a new method based on unilateral UK legislation (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences (1995) Regulations) and the innovative use of Artificial Intelligence method Case Based Reasoning. Case Based Reasoning (CBR) allows transparency in the Tool processes and has many benefits over other safety tools which may suffer from ‘black box’ stigmatism. The Tool is populated with knowledge extracted from a real transportation project and is hosted via the internet (www.Total-Safety.com). The end product of the Tool is the generation of bespoke method statements detailing appropriate control measures. These generated paper documents are shown to have financial and quality control benefits over traditional method statements. The Tool has undergone testing and analysis and is shown to be robust. Finally, the overall conclusions and opportunities for further research are presented and progress of the work against each of the five research objectives is assessed