This article provides in-depth description of the situation with crude oil and refined products transportation from the Caspian Region to the European Union. It describes demand and supply, main transportation routes and modes of transport. The article then addresses existing and potential issues and discusses the ways to resolve them. There are two knowledge gaps associated with the topic of this article: (i) transportation of crude oil and refined products from the Caspian region to the European Union receives limited attention of researchers, and (ii) the majority of related scientific publications consider mainly the aspects of geopolitics and the European energy security, but not the transportation itself. The author attempts to partially close these gaps.

The French pavement design method provides a very comprehensive, probability-based design approach. It also provides a fairly sophisticated method for establishing the equivalent pavement temperature, which has been used worldwide for different applications. The objective was to analyse the applicability of the French method for calculating the equivalent pavement temperature for Hungarian climatic conditions. It considers the thickness of the pavement structure and facilitate pavement temperature distribution. It was found that the French method provides a comprehensive approach and can facilitate variable climatic conditions and pavement temperature distribution while considering the thickness of the pavement structure. This provides fit for purpose solutions and eliminates the overly simplified approach to use a single equivalent pavement temperature for variable climatic and pavement conditions. Real pavement temperature data provided crucial input into the accuracy of the methodology. Asphalt modulus values and asphalt fatigue properties at different temperatures were estimated using an internationally well accepted method. The next focus item of this research work will be to refine the calculations based on asphalt modulus master-curves and fatigue data collected from laboratory testing at different temperatures.

Increasing traffic volumes leads to changes in traffic conditions, especially at intersections. These changes affect the ability of Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) such as pedestrians and bicyclists to cross the road safely, especially at un-signalized crossings (without traffic lights), where many road users are conflicting at the same point of the road and neglecting 'in some cases' the priority issue. Although the emphasis on pedestrian safety has recently increased, there is still a need to analyze the causal factors of VRUs accidents and define their relationship to road design characteristics. This paper presents a study bout vehicle – pedestrian and bicyclist conflicts analysis using Swedish conflict technique at three un-signalized pedestrian crossings in the city of Győr- Hungary, where some pedestrian accidents were happened between 2014 and 2018, and reported based on accidents database in Hungary. The aim is to analyse vehicle-pedestrian and bicyclist interactions, and evaluate the severity of conflicts with the help of the Swedish technique graph. The findings concluded that there is a compatibility between Swedish conflict technique and accident records with regard to conflicts severity and the probability of accidents occurrence.

Embankment construction on soft soil may result in excessive settlement, loss of bearing capacity, or sliding instability. However, geosynthetic-reinforced pile-supported (GRPS) embankments offer an effective technique to overcome the problems resulting from soft foundations soils. This paper presents a review of the most important parameters affecting the behaviour of GRPS embankments as well as design methods that estimate tensile forces in the geosynthetic layers and load efficiency. Results highlight the importance of using GRPS embankments, but also reveal the inconsistencies between design methods. Finally, general conclusions about the design and construction of GRPS systems are presented.

The condition of a railway track is characterized by many indices, including its geometric shape, both in the horizontal and vertical planes. The purpose of this paper is to create a mathematical tool to ensure the operation of track machines for surfacing, tamping, and alignment, which are equipped with automation systems. The developed mathematical model will be integrated into the AS "Strela" software package which is currently installed on machines. Scientific approaches used in the mathematical model allowed to reduce the operation of machines in "window", to simplify the work of maintenance personnel, to create an information base of track parameters, to establish rational parameters of curves during surfacing.

This paper presents a possible new method for supporting a specific spinal surgical procedure by artificial neural networks. The method should be based on the surgical demands and protocols used by surgeons in order to carry out successful operations. Considering these requirements, a plan for an algorithm that will be able to support surgeons in the preparation and the conduction of an operation is outlined. The aim is not to substitute the surgeon but to assist him. Furthermore, this paper demonstrates how the neural network to be designed can significantly reduce the possible surgical risks, thereby increasing surgery effectiveness.

Lubricant degradation by additive depletion, contamination and build-up of degradation products deteriorates lubrication performance. It can be expected that engine oil degradation also has an impact on performance parameters. Engine development tends to higher power density, lower engine oil viscosity to optimize fuel efficiency, which heavily stress engine oils and thus demand increased oil performance. Correlations between engine oil degradation, friction and wear during an engine oil’s lifetime are a valuable asset in engine development towards performance, longevity and cost reduction. Here, physical-chemical and tribological properties of engine oils collected from passenger cars were determined. The results revealed the deterioration of friction (loss of fuel efficiency) and wear (increasing loss of material) depending on mileage. Defined used engine oils were produced by artificial alteration in a large-scale device and showed a very good correlation with the field samples.

Contemporary turbochargers are high-speed rotating devices, commonly supported by full floating bearings or semi-floating bearings. Depending on the size and operational speed of the turbocharger, rotordynamics significantly changes. Industrial turbochargers are operating below 20.000 RPM and their rotor weight is substantial, leading to quasilinear rotordynamics behaviour. By contrast, automotive turbochargers are rotating up to 300.000 RPM with non-linear rotordynamics characteristics. Due to this non-linearity, rotor movement is intense, and bearing load is dynamically changing all the time. The consequence is reduced lifespan of the turbocharger. In this paper, the effect of changing bearing clearances, as well as the differences between semi-floating and full floating bearing constructions will be described based on journal papers scientific publications on the topic. Also, the damping and whirling phenomenon inside a bearing system will be investigated and presented in a comprehensive literature research on automotive turbocharger rotordynamics.

Nowadays lots of big brands (like Tesla, Nissan, Audi etc.) deal with electric cars and electric drive systems. The first brand deals with only electric drive systems and everyone know this name. These cars are more environmentally friendly, because those operate only with electric energy (this article does not deal with the source of electric energy). The design of electric drive systems is very difficult and complicated task: the electric, thermal and mechanical parameters are very important during the design process. The task is given: it must be designed to reach the most efficient drive system with a low cost. This article deals with the current semiconductor trends and properties, investigates the current electric car drive systems (semiconductor design perspective) and deals with the future trends.

This paper demonstrates the results in the research topic of the railway ballast particles’ breakage test with unique laboratory test. The most railway lines in the world have so called traditional superstructure (ballasted tracks). In the past few years there were a lot of railway rehabilitation projects in Hungary, as well as abroad. Nowadays cannot be expected that there is enough quantity of railway ballast in adequate quality, because of the modifications and restrictions in the related regulations in Hungary since 2010. In Hungary there are only a few quarries which are able to ensure adequate railway ballast material for construction and maintenance projects for speed values between 120 and 160 km/h. This may cause supply and quality risk in production of railway ballast. The authors’ research’s main goal is to be able to simulate the stress-strain effect of ballast particles in real and objective way in laboratory conditions as well as in discrete element modelling.