scholarly journals Spectro-Temporal Responses of Curved Railway Tracks with Variable Radii of Arc Curves

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (04) ◽  
pp. 1950044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sakdirat Kaewunruen ◽  
Chayut Ngamkhanong ◽  
Xin Liu

On curved railway tracks, wheel/rail interface can usually cause a traveling source of sound and vibration, which constitutes high-pitch or tonal noise pollution causing considerable concern to rail asset owners, commuters and people living or working along the railway corridor. The sound and vibration can be in various forms and spectra. The undesirable tonal sound on curves caused by excessive lateral wheel/rail dynamics in resonance with falling friction states are often called ‘squeal noises’. This paper evaluates the transient effect of curve radii on the possible occurrence of lateral track resonances, which is a principal cause of dynamic wheel/rail mode coupling that could trigger ‘curve squeal’. This study is devoted to systems thinking approach and better insight into dynamic phenomena of railway tracks that could resolve the railway curve noise problems. Curved track models in three-dimensional space have been developed using a finite element package, STRAND7. The dynamic responses of curved track have been simulated by applying a moving train load. The transient loading model of a common wheel/rail slip has been adopted. The simulations of railway tracks with different curve radii have been carried out to develop state-of-the-art understanding of lateral track dynamics, including rail dynamics, cant dynamics and overall track responses. Parametric studies have been conducted to evaluate lateral displacements, velocities and accelerations of rail over sleeper and rail at midspan, both in static and dynamic conditions. The study firstly reveals that the lateral resonance of tangent tracks is relatively rare and the mode coupling behavior is unlikely to occur on moderately curved tracks. The lateral vibration responses have been presented in terms of time histories and spectro-temporal responses (also called “Spectogram”). The dynamic lateral responses of the track are found to be sensitive to the change of curved radii. The resonance peak in the lateral direction is related to the agreement of corresponding natural frequencies of rail and the vibration excitation frequencies under an individual rolling velocity. The outcome of this study establishes new insight into the dominant influences of different track parameters to track lateral dynamic behaviors.

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (01) ◽  
pp. 1850011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sakdirat Kaewunruen ◽  
Tomasz Lewandrowski ◽  
Kritditorn Chamniprasart

This paper investigates novel dynamic phenomena of interspersed railway tracks. The interspersed method is commonly carried out by spot-replacing old timber sleepers with new concrete sleepers. Although this interspersed approach provides a short-term solution, such method has a negative effect on the long-term performance of railway tracks. It is evident that the performance of interspersed tracks can quickly deteriorate after some years. As a result, this paper is the first to evaluate dynamic responses of the interspersed track caused by a moving train load in order to understand the root cause of swift track deterioration. Interspersed track models in three-dimensional space have been developed using a finite element package, STRAND7. The model was validated earlier with experimental results. Parametric studies have been conducted to evaluate dynamic responses of the interspersed railway tracks, including dynamic displacement, frontal uplift, rear uplift and accelerations of rail over sleeper, rail at midspan, sleeper at rail seat, and sleeper at midspan. Dynamic amplification phenomena are highlighted as they convey a new insight into dynamic phenomena identifying the real source of track deterioration.


2017 ◽  
Vol 474 (9) ◽  
pp. 1495-1508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Smith ◽  
Andrew Yarwood ◽  
Roland A. Fleck ◽  
Colin Robinson ◽  
Corinne J. Smith

The twin-arginine translocation (Tat) system is an integral membrane protein complex that accomplishes the remarkable feat of transporting large, fully folded polypeptides across the inner membrane of bacteria, into the periplasm. In Escherichia coli, Tat comprises three membrane proteins: TatA, TatB and TatC. How these proteins arrange themselves in the inner membrane to permit passage of Tat substrates, whilst maintaining membrane integrity, is still poorly understood. TatA is the most abundant component of this complex and facilitates assembly of the transport mechanism. We have utilised immunogold labelling in combination with array tomography to gain insight into the localisation and distribution of the TatA protein in E. coli cells. We show that TatA exhibits a uniform distribution throughout the inner membrane of E. coli and that altering the expression of TatBC shows a previously uncharacterised distribution of TatA in the inner membrane. Array tomography was used to provide our first insight into this altered distribution of TatA in three-dimensional space, revealing that this protein forms linear clusters in the inner membrane of E. coli upon increased expression of TatBC. This is the first indication that TatA organisation in the inner membrane alters in response to changes in Tat subunit stoichiometry.


Author(s):  
Peter Sterling

The synaptic connections in cat retina that link photoreceptors to ganglion cells have been analyzed quantitatively. Our approach has been to prepare serial, ultrathin sections and photograph en montage at low magnification (˜2000X) in the electron microscope. Six series, 100-300 sections long, have been prepared over the last decade. They derive from different cats but always from the same region of retina, about one degree from the center of the visual axis. The material has been analyzed by reconstructing adjacent neurons in each array and then identifying systematically the synaptic connections between arrays. Most reconstructions were done manually by tracing the outlines of processes in successive sections onto acetate sheets aligned on a cartoonist's jig. The tracings were then digitized, stacked by computer, and printed with the hidden lines removed. The results have provided rather than the usual one-dimensional account of pathways, a three-dimensional account of circuits. From this has emerged insight into the functional architecture.


Author(s):  
David A. Agard ◽  
Yasushi Hiraoka ◽  
John W. Sedat

In an effort to understand the complex relationship between structure and biological function within the nucleus, we have embarked on a program to examine the three-dimensional structure and organization of Drosophila melanogaster embryonic chromosomes. Our overall goal is to determine how DNA and proteins are organized into complex and highly dynamic structures (chromosomes) and how these chromosomes are arranged in three dimensional space within the cell nucleus. Futher, we hope to be able to correlate structual data with such fundamental biological properties as stage in the mitotic cell cycle, developmental state and transcription at specific gene loci.Towards this end, we have been developing methodologies for the three-dimensional analysis of non-crystalline biological specimens using optical and electron microscopy. We feel that the combination of these two complementary techniques allows an unprecedented look at the structural organization of cellular components ranging in size from 100A to 100 microns.


Author(s):  
K. Urban ◽  
Z. Zhang ◽  
M. Wollgarten ◽  
D. Gratias

Recently dislocations have been observed by electron microscopy in the icosahedral quasicrystalline (IQ) phase of Al65Cu20Fe15. These dislocations exhibit diffraction contrast similar to that known for dislocations in conventional crystals. The contrast becomes extinct for certain diffraction vectors g. In the following the basis of electron diffraction contrast of dislocations in the IQ phase is described. Taking account of the six-dimensional nature of the Burgers vector a “strong” and a “weak” extinction condition are found.Dislocations in quasicrystals canot be described on the basis of simple shear or insertion of a lattice plane only. In order to achieve a complete characterization of these dislocations it is advantageous to make use of the one to one correspondence of the lattice geometry in our three-dimensional space (R3) and that in the six-dimensional reference space (R6) where full periodicity is recovered . Therefore the contrast extinction condition has to be written as gpbp + gobo = 0 (1). The diffraction vector g and the Burgers vector b decompose into two vectors gp, bp and go, bo in, respectively, the physical and the orthogonal three-dimensional sub-spaces of R6.


2019 ◽  
Vol 476 (20) ◽  
pp. 2981-3018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petar H. Lambrev ◽  
Parveen Akhtar

Abstract The light reactions of photosynthesis are hosted and regulated by the chloroplast thylakoid membrane (TM) — the central structural component of the photosynthetic apparatus of plants and algae. The two-dimensional and three-dimensional arrangement of the lipid–protein assemblies, aka macroorganisation, and its dynamic responses to the fluctuating physiological environment, aka flexibility, are the subject of this review. An emphasis is given on the information obtainable by spectroscopic approaches, especially circular dichroism (CD). We briefly summarise the current knowledge of the composition and three-dimensional architecture of the granal TMs in plants and the supramolecular organisation of Photosystem II and light-harvesting complex II therein. We next acquaint the non-specialist reader with the fundamentals of CD spectroscopy, recent advances such as anisotropic CD, and applications for studying the structure and macroorganisation of photosynthetic complexes and membranes. Special attention is given to the structural and functional flexibility of light-harvesting complex II in vitro as revealed by CD and fluorescence spectroscopy. We give an account of the dynamic changes in membrane macroorganisation associated with the light-adaptation of the photosynthetic apparatus and the regulation of the excitation energy flow by state transitions and non-photochemical quenching.


2004 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
David Leys ◽  
Jaswir Basran ◽  
François Talfournier ◽  
Kamaldeep K. Chohan ◽  
Andrew W. Munro ◽  
...  

TMADH (trimethylamine dehydrogenase) is a complex iron-sulphur flavoprotein that forms a soluble electron-transfer complex with ETF (electron-transferring flavoprotein). The mechanism of electron transfer between TMADH and ETF has been studied using stopped-flow kinetic and mutagenesis methods, and more recently by X-ray crystallography. Potentiometric methods have also been used to identify key residues involved in the stabilization of the flavin radical semiquinone species in ETF. These studies have demonstrated a key role for 'conformational sampling' in the electron-transfer complex, facilitated by two-site contact of ETF with TMADH. Exploration of three-dimensional space in the complex allows the FAD of ETF to find conformations compatible with enhanced electronic coupling with the 4Fe-4S centre of TMADH. This mechanism of electron transfer provides for a more robust and accessible design principle for interprotein electron transfer compared with simpler models that invoke the collision of redox partners followed by electron transfer. The structure of the TMADH-ETF complex confirms the role of key residues in electron transfer and molecular assembly, originally suggested from detailed kinetic studies in wild-type and mutant complexes, and from molecular modelling.


Author(s):  
Leiba Rodman

Quaternions are a number system that has become increasingly useful for representing the rotations of objects in three-dimensional space and has important applications in theoretical and applied mathematics, physics, computer science, and engineering. This is the first book to provide a systematic, accessible, and self-contained exposition of quaternion linear algebra. It features previously unpublished research results with complete proofs and many open problems at various levels, as well as more than 200 exercises to facilitate use by students and instructors. Applications presented in the book include numerical ranges, invariant semidefinite subspaces, differential equations with symmetries, and matrix equations. Designed for researchers and students across a variety of disciplines, the book can be read by anyone with a background in linear algebra, rudimentary complex analysis, and some multivariable calculus. Instructors will find it useful as a complementary text for undergraduate linear algebra courses or as a basis for a graduate course in linear algebra. The open problems can serve as research projects for undergraduates, topics for graduate students, or problems to be tackled by professional research mathematicians. The book is also an invaluable reference tool for researchers in fields where techniques based on quaternion analysis are used.


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