Directions in Engineering Research An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs (1987) / Chapter Skim
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8. Transportation Systems Research in the United States: An Overview
8. Transportation Systems Research in the United States: An Overview
Pages 281-320
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From page 281... ...
Individuals, organizations, and nations prosper and develop in concert with progress in transportation. If the United States does not contribute substantially to that progress, it will have to defer to other nations in both the economic and defense realms for the advances they devise.
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From page 282... ...
: . systems engineering (integration of all or major segments of the entire spectrum of vehicle design, vehicle-guideway interactions, traffic control, intermodal interfaces, and the planning and logistics of transportation networks for moving people and goods)
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283 2. Fundamental engineering research areas of special relevance to transportation systems: tribology; computational fluid and solid mechanics; and the man-machine interface.
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The government is also responsible for the national defense, of which transportation systems are a highly significant element. The panel found that, in areas in which there is a clear and direct relationship between defense and an element of civilian transportation (e.g., air traffic control)
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From page 285... ...
Intro duct ion SCOPE OF THE PANEL'S REPORT The Pane! on Transportation Systems Research was charged with examining issues posed for its parent body, the Engineering Research Board, relating to those areas of engineering research critical to the future of transportation systems within the interests of the United States.
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From page 286... ...
Research results in materials, in fluid mechanics and combustion, in solid mechanics and structures, in electronic devices and controls, in computer and systems science and engineering, in manufacturing and fabrication, in construction, and in aspects of the man-machine interface have been applied to transportation in a highly integrated way. This research has enabled the transformation of primitive predecessors into the present surface vessels, submarines, trains, autos, trucks, off-road vehicles, pipeline systems, aircraft and space vehicles, and other familiar people and goods movers and the visible and invisible paths on which they move.
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From page 287... ...
If the United States does not contribute substantially to that progress, it will have to defer to other nations in both the economic and defense realms for the advancements they devise. Engineering research directed at transportation can provide the overall framework for significant advances in the future.
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Systems engineering, which encompasses both the tangible components and methodological elements of transportation systems, brings public and/or social choices and concerns into play along with the other aspects shown in Table 1. Important or Emerging Areas of Transportation Systems Research IDENTIFYING RESEARCH NEEDS IN TRANSPORTATION Despite the great importance of our transportation system to the nation, as measured by the enormous public investment mentioned earlier, there is little investment in and almost no coordination of the research needed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of either the overall transportation system or of the individual modes.
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From page 289... ...
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH TABLE 1 Aspects of Transportation Systems Subject to Engineering Research System Topic 289 Vehicles G uideways Intermodal interfaces Communication Network analysis System planning and management Propulsion Container Communications Controls Safety equipment Pollution controls Navigational equipment Structures G eometrics Maintenance equipment Safety equipment Navigational equipment Conveyors Parking facilities Freight handling equipment Terminals (e.g., harbors) Vehicle to vehicle Vehicle to guideway Guideway to vehicle intermode Equilibrium Logistics Congestion reduction Location Safety Capacity Environmental impacts Flow relationships Mode choices Man-machine interface Control
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From page 290... ...
; the need for greater public understanding of safety and/or risk management; and the reemergence of energy and material resources as a constraint. IMPACTS ON RESEARCH Viewed another way, these issues highlight public expectations of (1)
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The third list consists of mode-specific research topics with the potential to provide a breakthrough in various modes of transportation. The fourth list simply notes, by title, research areas of great importance to transportation but that are the primary concern of other panels of the Engineering Research Board.
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From page 292... ...
However, these are systems engineering problems. Beyond the focus on the vehicle and the vehicle-guideway and intermodal interfaces, a third level of concern is emerging in the context of transportation systems engineering.
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have opened vast new opportunities for research breakthroughs. Traffic Control.
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Extensive fundamental engineering research is needed to achieve a better understanding of the mechanics of slowly deteriorating systems and to develop a basis for their nondestructive evaluation. This research should include identifying ~aImost-failed" systems and the mechanics of that phase of deterioration.
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From page 295... ...
Fluid Dynamics of Separated Flows Computational fluid mechanics from the subsonic to the hypersonic regime, as it can develop with supercomputers advanced enough to permit all body details and flow conditions to be included, will surely bring about appreciable increases in the efficiency of land, water, and air transport. However, at present a major stumbling block in computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
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From page 296... ...
There is a clear need for more research in this area; both analytical and experimental effort would result in definite progress. LIST 2: FUNDAMENTAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH AREAS OF SPECIAL RELEVANCE TO TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS Tribology This area of research offers renewed potential in the context of new materials and technologies.
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From page 297... ...
Computational Fluid and Solid Mechanics As we mentioned earlier, the advent of supercomputers large and fast enough to include all vehicle/flow parameters in simulations means that computational fluid mechanics/dynamics will be able to greatly reduce drag and increase the efficiency of land, water, and air transport in all regimes of flow. As research establishes the validity of design procedures, it will be feasible (within time and financial constraints)
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From page 298... ...
LIST 3: MODE-SPECIFIC RESEARCH A erospace Areas of research important to aerospace transportation systems include combustion, fluid dynamics of separated flows, computational solid and fluid mechanics, computers and control, manufacturing sciences, composite materials, and structures. Those topics identified below describe several of the specific subareas of research, not explicitly in the purview of other panels, that relate strictly to aerospace systems.
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From page 299... ...
Computational fluid (zero-) dynamics, described previously, will be an essential toot as new materials permit new configurations.
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From page 300... ...
A great deal more research into fuels and the circumstances of their storage, handling, and burning is needed before we can proceed with any optimized transatmospheric system. Maritime Maritime transportation covers several activities that are, in many respects, quite different.
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Maritime transportation is characterized by low cost per ton mile, and by the ability to move very large masses of cargo. The most severe restrictions in the maritime transportation system occur at the interface between land and water transportation.
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This is a top-priority near- and longterm research area made more pressing as truck sizes and axle Toads increase along with the age of the nation's highways. Six specific needs identified in a recent Special Report of the Transportation Research Boards are 1.
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From page 303... ...
Topics that require research include technological ways to ameliorate the problem of drug and alcohol use by drivers; highest safe speed limits, including possible local variations; vehicle design/equipment factors such as seat belts, passive/active restraints, and driver resistance to their use; the contribution of trucks to the frequency and severity of traffic accidents; biomechanics of crash injury as an aid in vehicle design; and better techniques for accident investigation and reconstruction. Highway Productivity.
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From page 304... ...
Second, wheels that go into service with a residual compressive stress in the rim to resist cracking are gradually changed by repeated thermal exposure in braking to a condition of tension. Far too little research has been carried out to
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When the economic conditions are favorable, pipeline transport offers significant advantages, such as: long, low-maintenance operating life; high reliability and safety; low labor costs; and minimal disturbance of the environment. Pipeline transport is already a substantial mode of freight transportation for liquids and gases, and has a strong potential for expansion in the area of bulk materials and discrete commodities.
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From page 306... ...
Systems studies that consider pipeline capsule transport as a part of a multimodal feeder, linehaul, and distribution system would help to identify applications, technical characteristics, and areas for subsystem research. LIST 4: BROAD, FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH AREAS WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF OTHER PANELS OF THE ENGINEERING RESEARCH BOARD Four resaerch areas fall under the domain of other panels: 1.
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From page 307... ...
The water transportation system in the United States is important in view of its low cost and the extensiveness of our navigable waters. In the inland water transportation network, the waterways are construed to be in the public sector.
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From page 308... ...
Although the funding is small, much of it goes for planning, and the research tends to be very applied. The Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council has played a significant role in establishing priorities for research, and the recently defined Strategic Transportation Research Study (STRS)
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More research is needed in this area to ensure that regulations meet national objectives of safety and productivity. Traffic control for surface transportation lies within the police powers of the states and is shared among the various levels of government a complicated situation.
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There ~ very little commitment to research on the part of either private operators or the federal government. Air Transportation.
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Major research programs in progress are already looking at next-generation air traffic control systems designed to increase flight density without impairing safety. Pipelines.
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It is not clear, given the growth and redistribution of the population and the increasing cost of energy over time, that the current balance between the private and public transportation of people represents the optimum national investment. Research aimed at exploring options is not adequately supported.
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Some years ago, a systematic study of the allocation of federal resources to research revealed that about 10 percent of the budget of the national security program was devoted to research. Agencies participating in the national security program include the Department of Defense, that part of the Department of Energy related to nuclear systems, and NASA.
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In maritime transportation there are very few options available to a designer or an operator because of the lack of exploration and aggressive consideration of new ideas and new concepts. The academic community has few opportunities to pursue research in these fields.
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The NSF should initiate a significant and broad program of fundamental engineering research in transportation.* The DOT should resume and expand its programs in support offundamental research across the spectrum of transportation, with universities as the principal performers of this research.
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From page 316... ...
University research can be uniquely helpful when complex systems such as the transportation network, with its intermodal problems and linkages to other industries, are at issue. However, it is not sufficient to speak only of research.
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Current research projects being funded by the federal government (Federal Highway Administration) and by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program are usually so large and require such elaborate proposals that many universities cannot compete successfully for this research.
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Bibliography America's Highways: Acocicrating the Search for Innovation. Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC: National Research Council, 1984.
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Some comments covered specific aspects of the panel's scope of activities, whereas others provided input on a variety of subjects. Although most of the responses addressed priority research needs, several respondents did reflect on policy issues.
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Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers AG ENCIES AND LAB ORATORIES Air Force Institute of Technology Air Force Office of Scientific Research Brookhaven National Laboratory NASA Ames Research Center NASA Langley Research Center NASA Lewis Research Center National Center for Atmospheric Research Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sandia National Laboratory )
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