From Laboratory to Road: A 2018 update of official and 'real world' fuel consumption and CO2 values for passenger cars in Europe

Annoyance caused by the sounds of a magnetic levitation train

In a laboratory study, the annoyance caused by the passby sounds from a magnetic levitation (maglev) train was investigated. The listeners were presented with various sound fragments. The task of the listeners was to respond after each presentation to the question: "How annoying would you find the sound in the preceding period if you were...

Inventarisatie milieupotentieel brandstofcelvoertuigen voor het Nederlandse wegverkeer

-

Child restraint system for children in cars - CREST results

Child restraint systems (CRS) for cars are intended to protect children in the case of a car accident. Unfortunately their effectiveness is still too low: in the range 30-50% when it would be expected to be much higher. The low effectiveness of child restraint systems can partly be explained for the youngest passengers by their greater cervical...

Closure and trim design for pedestrian impact

To provide protection to pedestrians in collision with passenger vehicles, the design and construction of a vehicle’s bumper, hood and fender panels must be addressed. TNO has undertaken a research project in conjunction with DSM to investigate how this may be done. Vehicle styling, packaging and an analysis led design process will be shown for...

In-use compliance testing of passenger cars in the Netherlands

In 1987 TNO Automotive started the execution of a large scale in-use compliance program for passenger cars. The initial goal of the program was: 'Monitoring the emission performance of passenger cars in-use and relating this performance to the situation at type approval'. In the early years the program proved to be very useful for detection of...

Energy scenarios for European passenger transport in the year 2030

In this paper four energy scenarios for Westy-European passenger transport are developed. To start with, the present transport system as a base-line case is described and analysed. Next, for each scenario we sketch how the passenger transport system may look like in terms of the use of various existing and future transport technologies and the...

Computer-assisted ergonomic analysis for vehicle interior design

TNO Human Factors is involved in the process of designing and testing a new concept for driver workplaces in passenger cars, i.e. with a horizontally fixed driver seat and adjustable pedals, steering wheel and instrument panel. This new concept is intended to achieve an interior space and arrangement of instruments that supports the driver task...

Cost optimal allocation of rail passenger lines

We consider the problem of cost optimal railway line allocation for passenger trains for the Dutch railway system. At present, the allocation of passenger lines by Dutch Railways is based on maximizing the number of direct travelers. This paper develops an alternative approach that takes operating costs into account. A mathematical programming...

EEVC working group 14 activities in energy-absorbing front underrun protection

The European Enhanced Vehicle-Safety Committee (EEVC) established Working Group 14 (WG14) with the task to develop a test procedure and performance standard for energy-absorbing front underrun protection systems for trucks in order to reduce the injuries to car occupants in frontal collisions between passenger cars and trucks. WG14 defined a...

Measuring TGV source strength with Syntacan

A 10 m high, vertical, synthetic acoustic antenna (Syntacan) has been used to measure the acoustic source strength and the vertical source distribution of a French TGV, as a function of the speed of the train, the frequency of the sound and the coach type (passenger coach, power car). The results are intended as input for calculation schemes and...

Is freight traffic noise more annoying than passenger traffic noise?

In the Netherlands a new freight-only railway route, the "Betuweroute", is being planned to carry freight traffic from Rotterdam harbour east into Germany. Inhabitants of areas near the future route are concerned about noise and vibration, and question the relevance of current legislation for a "freight-only" line. An analysis of field surveys,...