A review of the distribution of particulate trace elements in urban terrestrial environments and its application to considerations of risk

We review the evolution, state of the art and future lines of research on the sources, transport pathways, and sinks of particulate trace elements in urban terrestrial environments to include the atmosphere, soils, and street and indoor dusts. Such studies reveal reductions in the emissions of some elements of historical concern such as Pb, with interest consequently focusing on other toxic trace elements such as As, Cd, Hg, Zn, and Cu. While establishment of levels of these elements is important in assessing the potential impacts of human society on the urban environment, it is also necessary to apply this knowledge in conjunction with information on the toxicity of those trace elements and the degree of exposure of human receptors to an assessment of whether such contamination represents a real risk to the city’s inhabitants and therefore how this risk can be addressed

Multi-physics modelling approach in all terrain vehicle longitudinal dynamics

This paper presents a detailed 4×4 off-road vehicle modelling method, based on a multi-physics approach. A full drivetrain system including all aspects of rotational inertial dynamics, friction, damping and stiffness properties is integrated with a fourteen-degrees-of-freedom vehicle model including body dynamics, kinematics, suspension and wheel dynamics as well as the terramechanical phenomena between tyres and soft soils. The interaction between all these modules is implemented in the MATLAB/SIMULINK/SimDriveline environment. The concepts of modularity, flexibility, and user-friendliness were emphasized during model development. The model is developed in order to provide design engineers with the capability to investigate effects of component selection and to develop control systems and automatic optimization processes for off-road 4×4 vehicles. While the modelling approach can be used for a wide variety of operating conditions, the present work focuses on the analysis of the contribution of different aspects on the off-road traction of 4×4 vehicles

Optimisation of AWD off-road vehicle performance using visco-lock devices

A comprehensive computer model is devised for the simulation of AWD off-road vehicle dynamics. Particular attention has been paid to the modelling of various visco-lock devices, including the viscous couplings and visco-lock limited-slip differentials. These devices are represented by fully parameterised physical models which capture the torque transmission mechanism represented by various thermodynamic, hydrodynamic, structural and mechanical modules. The characteristics of these devices can easily be altered so that comparisons can be made between different types. In addition, the influence of a wide range operating conditions, vehicle design parameters and tyre characteristics can also be made over various deformable soils