Volume 16 (2015): Edizione 4 (December 2015)

The purpose of this paper was to present a reliability comparison of two types of city transport buses. Case study on the example of the well-known brands of city buses: Solaris Urbino 12 and Mercedes-Benz 628 Conecto L used at Municipal Transport Company in Lublin was presented in details. A reliability index for the most failure parts and complex systems for the period of time failures was determined. The analysis covered damages of the following systems: engine, electrical system, pneumatic system, brake system, driving system, central heating and air-conditioning and doors. Reliability was analyzed based on Weibull model. It has been demonstrated, that during the operation significant reliability differences occur between the buses produced nowadays.

The primary objective of this article is to formalize the “special bus lanes within the area of intersection” method that allows providing buses with space-time priority at signalized intersections (mostly of the isolated type), including those with no more than two traffic lanes in each direction at the approaches to the intersection. The article establishes the limits for efficient application of this method, and describes the results of a simulation experiment conducted in the VISSIM environment to investigate the functioning of the method on an actual intersection. The most critical phase of implementation of this method is to determine the optimum length of the special bus lane at the approach to the intersection. The optimum length of special bus lanes at the approaches to isolated or coordinated intersections is determined based on the maximum length of queued vehicles which is computed using the simulation models developed in the Objective-C language. The article covers the basic characteristics of those models, their structure and building principles, and also provides the model validation results. Simulation models can be used both for determination of the optimum length of special bus lanes at the approaches to signalized intersections and for analysis of intersection performance based on the maximum length of queued vehicles.

The green transport corridor concept represents a cornerstone in the development of integrated and sustainable transport solutions. Important properties of green corridors are their transnational character and their high involvement of large numbers of public and private stakeholders, including political level, requiring sophisticated approaches for implementation, management and governance. The current scientific discussion focusses on Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for monitoring and management of green transport corridor performance emphasizing the operational aspects.

The green corridor balanced scorecard approach tried to mitigate the strategic weakness of KPI concept by integrating cooperative and long-term views in order to come closer to a comprehensive green corridor control system. Until now all discussed KPI sets are too small and narrow for a successful implementation of green corridors so there is a need for the development of an user-oriented model for green corridor control systems based on building blocks integrating existing KPI sets.

The building block approach for implementation has been successfully used for implementation and simulation in supply chain management. Based on these results the paper will present a holistic control system for successful implementation of green transport corridors based on building blocks integrating recent results about KPIs and balanced scorecards approaches. The research will empirically be verified by empirical results from European green corridor projects.

The increase of the supply chains efficiency requires optimization of all types of logistic operations and functions. One of such functions is the choice of intermediaries (carriers, freight forwarders, suppliers, service enterprises etc.) and, according to some specialists, it is a major strategic decision in management supply chains. The methods of choosing the logistic intermediaries are considered in many works, however, some questions remain debatable. The article discusses the analytical and expert approaches which serve as a basis to choose the intermediaries; along with it, in the article a comparative evaluation of choice expert methods is done: point-rating assessment, analytic hierarchy process and the general algorithm for selecting; the conclusions have been drawn about the applicability of each method.

Results of operational satellite monitoring of oil pollution of the sea surface together with in-situ measurements of the oil products concentration in the water column for the first time allowed to establish relation between the surface pollution originated from ships, and the general characteristics of spatial and temporal distribution of oil products in the water column in the Southeastern Baltic Sea. Areas with heightened concentrations of oil products in the surface and bottom layers were determined for the study area. The main directions of the contamination propagation are agreed with the main direction of annual mean transport of substances in the Gdansk Basin.

In the petroleum, natural gas and petrochemical industries, great attention is being paid to safety, reliability and maintainability of equipment. There are a number of technologies to monitor, control, and maintain gas, oil, water, and sewer pipelines. The paper focuses on operational modal analysis (OMA) application for condition monitoring of operating pipelines. Special focus is on the topicality of OMA for definition of the dynamic features of the pipeline (frequencies and mode shapes) in operation. The research was conducted using two operating laboratory models imitated a part of the operating pipeline. The results of finite-element modeling, identification of pipe natural modes and its modification under the influence of virtual failure are discussed. The work considers the results of experimental research of dynamic behavior of the operating pipe models using one of OMA techniques and comparing dynamic properties with the modeled data. The study results demonstrate sensitivity of modal shape parameters to modification of operating pipeline technical state. Two strategies of pipeline repair – with continuously condition-based monitoring with proposed technology and without such monitoring, was discussed. Markov chain reliability models for each strategy were analyzed and reliability improvement factor for proposed technology of monitoring in compare with traditional one was evaluated. It is resumed about ability of operating pipeline condition monitoring by measuring dynamic deformations of the operating pipe and OMA techniques application for dynamic properties extraction.

Nowadays, waste logistics is a relevant element within the worldwide logistics system. This paper is focused on the proposal of the appropriate model of landfill site for disposal of municipal waste. This issue refers to waste logistics in urban areas. In this regard, three different alternative models of landfill sites are considered. Landfill site model can significantly influence the waste management productivity and effectiveness of the enterprise. In the paper, one of the decision-making problem methods is utilized. This particular method enables to assess each model of landfill site in relation to each of the specified criterion and order the models according to the achieved results.

The networks with wireless links for automation control applications traffic transmission when packets have small size and application payload is predictable are under consideration. Analytical model for packets delay on their propagation path through the network is proposed. Estimations for network architectures based on WiFi and Bluetooth wireless technologies are made. The specifications for physical layer 802.11 a/b/g/n and 802.15.1 are under consideration. Analytical and experimental results for delivered network bandwidth for different network architecture, traffic structure and wireless technologies were compared to validate that basic mechanisms are correctly taken into account in the model. It is shown that basic effects are taken into account and further accuracy “improvement” of the model will give not more than 5%. As a result that is important for automation control applications we have reliably received the lowest possible level for packets delay in one wireless link. For 802.11 it is of order of 0.2 ms, for 802.15.1 it is 1.25 ms and is true when application packet can be transferred by one data frame.

The paper is devoted to using of DD inductance coils for the wireless power transfer. The aim of the given research is to determine influence of the parameters of resonance transformer on the efficiency of the wireless power transfer with the use of the DD inductance coils. Experimental installation of the wireless power transfer by a resonance inductive method was constructed. Experiments were performed with it help. Research results show influence of the distance between the coils of inductance, of the resonance transformer frequency, of the storage source voltage and of the temperature conditions on the efficiency of the wireless power transfer.

The paper include important aspects of layer model of postal technological system such as makes the possibility to define rules for regulating, technical and technological requirements and interfaces to communicate with other postal systems. The current postal reform is mainly attributable to release of network access and ensuring full interoperability between technological systems. Not only to ensure the development and protection of competition but also in respect to the conservation of requirements to provide the universal service, which is the performance of public interest. There is a space here to examine the postal system, not only from a procedural point of view, but to be viewed as an open communication system. It is possible to find there the commonalities with other communication sector branches and to handle the technological postal system in more layers; similarly as the electronic communication systems are handled. Model of layer postal system, based not only on the processes but on layers functionality, will enable to identify communication protocols and interfaces determining interoperability. It also opens the question of appropriate regulation model.