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lmn9959

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[资源] 【招聘】1 PhD student $30,000/year

1 PhD student Qeensland University of Technology

Start time: before 31 March 2011
Contact: Professor Cheng Yan c2.yan@qut.edu.au
Living allowance: $30,000/year
Research support: $5,000/year

Detailed information and requirement:

CRC for Rail Innovation‐ Postgraduate Scholarships
R3 Program ‐ Topics for Doctorate Study – Starting 2011
Procedures and conditions:
1. Applications should be forwarded to Colin Cole, R3 – Program Leader, c.cole@cqu.edu.au on, or
before, 5th February 2011. (Time may be extended if responses are inadequate).
2. Only candidates that can start study before 31st March 2011 will be considered.
3. Scholarship Stipends are $30,000/year with $5000/year student support to the university.
4. Topics listed have been selected to fill gaps in the CRC program. Additional topics will not be
considered. Topics in Table 1 will be treated with higher priority that topics in Table 2.
5. To participate in the call the participating University must have:
a. An academic with suitable expertise and time availability to supervise the student
b. Office facilities, software, experimental equipment to support the student
6. Participating universities, having satisfied 5(a) and 5(b) can advertise for candidates and work with
candidates to prepare documentation.
7. Candidates will be selected by a panel approved by the CRC’s Research Management Committee
(RMC). Candidates will be selected on a merit basis.
8. Documentation for overseas candidates must include clear information on immigration status and
IELTS English score. The student must be eligible for enrolment and immigration at the time the
proposals are considered.
9. The candidate application shall include: A proposal for study, Resume, Academic records, Language
and immigration status documents and the relevant university’s scholarship application form. The
university shall advise if the student will be eligible to enrol and it is envisaged that enrolments will
progress after scholarship decisions are advised.
10. The candidate application shall be accompanied by details of the supervisory team ( Supervisor and
Co‐Supervisor) and a brief statement regarding hosting arrangements and supporting research team.

Topic Descriptions – Table 1
1. Wagon Stability in response to aggregated effects of wind, curving and track irregularities.
The problem of wagon response to aggregated defects remains an unsolved problem. Instead wagon
roadworthiness, safe speeds and safe crosswind levels are determined by single criteria tests. Traditionally
by making these tests sufficiently stringent sufficient safety margins are achieved in operating conditions.
This thesis, while having some focus on wind loadings, which is of interest to industry partners, is expected
to explore the whole area of wagon response to aggregated conditions‐ for example different track
irregularities, combinations of wind, curving, track irregularity, load imbalance with the view to developing
improved methodology for performance assessment and design.
2. Methodology for management of rail standardization processes
Australia inherits railways which started in the un‐federated states of Australia. Despite over a decade of deaggregation
and many railways operating in several states, progress on interoperability and developing a
single set of standards has been slow. A study of engineering management approaches in Australia and
overseas is warranted. The candidate should aim to produce a methodology that can be used to properly
manage a progress towards standardisation and reduce the number of impasses that frequently develop in
standards committees.
3. Alternate concept wagons – optimisations for tomorrows railway
It is now well established that heavy haul railway are the profitable flagship of railways in many countries.
Longer, heavier trains continue to set new records in profitability and efficiency. Heavy haul trains also
occupy a monopoly in the markets they occupy and are a natural optimisation of the tradition railway
system. Is there an alternate paradigm to that of heavier larger trains? Many alternate rollingstock concepts
have been envisaged in the early days or during times of high energy pricing. As rail is increasingly seen as
the answer to low energy land transport needs there is a need to re‐explore alternate concept trains,
particularly in the inter‐ modal area, which due to the double handling of loads is often the most difficult
area to achieve acceptable rail efficiencies.

4. Train systems energy analysis ‐
The thesis will focus on comprehensive energy analysis of the whole train system with the aim of
developing a methodology will allow easy auditing of the train system and enable the rail owner to target
the areas of the largest possible energy reductions. The program will have objectives:
(a) To develop a practical methodology for developing a detailed map of energy use in a train haulage
system.
(b) To make recommendations for key design improvements for locomotives and rollingstock.
(c) Publish comparative data for various energy options
The analysis will consider the whole energy cost starting from diesel or electricity purchase point.
5. Investigate methods of satisfying reliability targets using new approaches to fail safety
It is recognized that the emergence of new technology may provide the opportunity to develop more
effective and affordable rail level crossing warnings systems, however, demonstrating that such systems are
fail‐safe can be very complex and costly, potentially negating any cost benefits. Non‐track circuit‐based
concepts using new technology for train detection such as radar, magnetic induction sensors, GPS, and video
processing show promise, however designers of many of these concepts have not been able to satisfy failsafe
operational requirements. The challenge for suppliers of low‐cost level crossing warning devices is to
ensure the safety and reliability of these systems based on new technologies, whilst maintaining a low cost.
The PhD thesis will research novel and innovative methods for satisfying reliability targets using new and
emerging technologies, innovative architectures and protocols, etc. The research will propose designs that
can be used to support new technology for next generation low‐cost level crossing warning devices.
6. Automated evaluation of rail level crossing incidents through video image processing
There are numerous near‐miss incidents on rail level crossings each year, however, the reporting of these
incidents may be inconsistent with actual events due to issues such as the unwillingness of drivers to report
incidents or divulge their own errors for fear of action being taken against them. Accurate incident reporting
is important to help identify why accidents do not occur, evidence system‐wide hazards and identify where
safety improvements can be made. The PhD thesis will investigate the use of image processing for the
automated evaluation of level crossing incidents both from the perspective of the train driver, using video
taken from the train cab, and from fixed video cameras at level crossings. The research aims to develop an
automated incident reporting system and the algorithms necessary to identify and classify different types of
incidents.

Topic Descriptions – Table 2
1. Predictive Wheel Maintenance
Wheel re‐profiling in some rail operators is done on a condition based system – a reactive/corrective basis.
Earlier approaches, still in use in many places, use just time based monitoring and/or re‐profiling. In either
case, there is high dependence on inspection and decisions are made on the basis of tolerances set. Wheels
out of tolerance are re‐profiled. This re‐profiling strategy has such drawbacks as:
 Wheel wear rate may not be optimal leading to early discarding of wheels.
 Cannot include wheel maintenance into scheduled servicing to minimise disruption to rail
service. I.e. During a bogie overhaul, etc.
 Undetected wheel defects could be missed by maintenance staff which could deteriorate
further.
 Undetected wheel defects cause considerable damage to infrastructure such as concrete
sleepers.
The aim of this research project will be to develop a method to determine the best instances within a
wheel’s lifetime to perform the re‐profiling. The benefits hoped to be realized are:
 Optimal wheel life
 Better maintenance scheduling
 Wheel defects identified and corrected earlier.
 Wheel defects prevented.
The research will seek to accurately predict the wear on Rolling Stock wheels and the appropriate time to reprofile
them to prevent wheel faults and consequent damage to infrastructure? The relative cost basis of the
following three approaches will also be compared:
(i) Condition based (existing)‐ costs in delays;
(ii) Time Scheduled (existing) ‐costs in over servicing
(iii) Predictive Scheduled –costs in over servicing, but less than (ii)
2. Human factors study in Signal Sighting and Signal Recognition
Railway signal lights are now utilizing LED light rather than traditional incandescent bulbs. While the
adoption of LED type light is expected to be universal, questions exist as to the visibility and recognition of
these lights. In particular the light rating data and the visibility of light in various weather and distance
conditions is not well understood. The project was suggested by the RISSB – TCSSC . Major research
questions exist regarding measurement standards and compare with incandescent lights and human factors
issues (perception, cognition etc)
3. Development of a standard approach to accessing and managing combined and cyclic defects
Rail track irregularity standards have traditional set limits to prescribed defects. Difficulty arises with defects
are combined and appear in wavelengths that match resonance behavior in vehicle suspensions. The study
program will concentrate on developing methods of combining defect of different types and combine this
with typical variations in vehicle response characteristics to produce information that can be used to develop
new defect limits for cyclic defects.
4. Decision Support for Corrosion management of steel railway structures
Development of decision support algorithms to managing painting and corrosion control decision for railway
rail bridges. Related to this is research into novel corrosion protection systems, or decisions as to when to fit
a corrosion protection system. Doing so may reduce the frequency of painting and hence large cost savings.
All this could link to the Life Cycle management of Bridges project.

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