Warranty design under buyer and seller risk aversion

This paper provides a framework in which warranty policies for non-repairable items can be evaluated according to risk preferences of both buyers and sellers. In particular, a warranty price schedule is established such that sellers are indifferent among the policies. Given this schedule, a buyer's response is expressed by selecting the price-warranty combination that minimizes disutility. Within this framework, a warranty can be viewed as an instrumet of risk management that can induce more sales and greater profitability. For given utility functions, analytical results for the development of a price schedule are developed. Numerical results illustrate the substitution effects between warranty terms, prices, and risk parameters.     

Algorithms for the minimax transportation problem

In this paper, we consider a variant of the classical transportation problem as well as of the bottleneck transportation problem, which we call the minimax transportation problem. The problem considered is to determine a feasible flow x_ij from a set of origins I to a set of destinations J for which max_(i,j)εIxJ{c_ijx_ij} is minimum. In this paper, we develop a parametric algorithm and a primal-dual algorithm to solve this problem. The parametric algorithm solves a transportation problem with parametric upper bounds and the primal-dual algorithm solves a sequence of related maximum flow problems. The primal-dual algorithm is shown to be polynomially bounded. Numerical investigations with both the algorithms are described in detail. The primal-dual algorithm is found to be computationally superior to the parametric algorithm and it can solve problems up to 1000 origins, 1000 destinations and 10,000 arcs in less than 1 minute on a DEC 10 computer system. The optimum solution of the minimax transportation problem may be noninteger. We also suggest a polynomial algorithm to convert this solution into an integer optimum solution.     

筒形桅杆有限元计算模型及无刚度奇点的消除方法研究

本文提出了一个用于消除空间杆梁结构有限元模型中的无刚度“奇点”的元素及相应的刚度矩阵计算公式。在无刚度“奇点”出现处以此元素替代拉压杆元,可使空间杆梁结构模型中的无刚度“奇点”消失,能够在不增加整个计算模型自由度的情况下提高计算结果的精度。在微型计算机上运用全部三维12自由度梁单元计算模型、拉压杆元——加弹性支座计算模型和本文提出的计算模型对某型军舰的桅杆结构进行了实例计算比较。计算结果表明:用本文方法得到的应力值、位移值与全部三维12自由度梁单元模型的计算结果符合良好。     

纳米级定位的简单化设计——采用滚珠球轴承的扭轮摩擦传动

作者在前面的文章中报导了扭轮摩擦传动能实现亚纳米级的定位分辨率。然而,这套装置在结构上的复杂之处就是在于采用了静压轴承支撑扭轮。本文指出了扭轮摩擦传动在结构上如何可以简化为采用球轴承支撑扭轮。在简化之后,实验表明定位分辨率小于1纳米。本文得出结论,采用球轴承的扭轮摩擦传动对于在洁净环境下要求实现纳米级定位的制造过程变得更为方便,而且可以取代滚珠丝杠以及常规摩擦传动方式。     

超精密铣削的三维微加工工艺

本研究旨在对用于获取有雕刻表面金属工件的超精密微加工工艺进行探讨。研究中使用的是车床型的超精密铣床,由分辨率为1nm的X和Z向运动工作台及分辨率为0.0001度的可定位的C轴组成。作为一种铣削工具,一种改进型的由一颗水晶钻构成的“仿球尖铣刀”被放置在X轴的高速气浮轴承之上。这样一来,X轴和C轴的协调运动就可产生三维铣削的效果。为提高表面粗糙度,通过模拟我们研究的刀具边沿和工件表面的接触情况,结果发现,刀具低速进给时切削比较有效。作为三维微加工工艺的一个例子,运用数字仪提供的扫描数据在一个直径为3mm的铜表面上制作一个传统的NOH面罩。经证明,超精密铣床有潜力加工出表面粗糙度为69nm(P—V值)的工件。     

塑性状态下光学及电子镜面的亚纳米级精密磨削

本文讲述了由PC机控制的多用途超精机床(MPUMT)的设计及光学镜平滑表面的加工。已研制出的机床可用于磨削、切削、研磨或抛光塑性状态下的硬脆材料。作为建立新的加工系统的关键部分,采用了大型磁致伸缩调节器(GMA),在没有放大器元件的情况下,它具有大功率的输出和大于压电陶瓷调节器几倍的纳米级的位移。切削DOC的深度和控制塑性状态过程的微塑性区域能够被调节器设置为具有高于1nm的精度,并能用金刚石磨削砂轮研磨。在当前研究中所用到的镜为多晶体、非晶体,也有加固玻璃。磨削实验的结果表明,已研制出来的超精机床能够实现对塑性状态下的玻璃和陶瓷材料的加工。材料特性参数和微裂纹之间的关系已被检测到,适用于大多数被研究玻璃的脆性到塑性磨削方式的转换已经确定。运用AFM、SEM和ZYGO对磨削表面进行了分析,例如BK7和TRC5(新材料;加固玻璃)的磨削表面分别具Ra=0.15nm和Ra=0.32nm的表面粗糙度。