Coalitions & the Legitimisation of UK Security Policy

Abstract

David Moore analyses the role of the Treasury in detemining and controlling defence policy and expenditure, and the place of the MoD within this function.     

Generalized programming by linear approximation of the dual gradient: Equality constraints

A modified generalized programming procedure is presented for solving concave programming problems with equality constraints. The procedure constructs convenient linear approximations of the gradient of the dual and finds points where the approximating functions vanish. In the quadratic programming case, the procedure is finitely convergent. Global convergence is established for the non-quadratic case. Illustrative numerical examples are included.     

Properties of an approximate hazard transform

The calculation of the exact reliability of complex systems is a difficult and tedious task. Consequently simple approximating techniques have great practical value. The hazard transform of a system is an invertible transformation of its reliability function which is convenient and useful in both applied and theoretical reliability work. A simple calculus for finding an approximate hazard transform for systems formed by series and parallel combinations of components is extended so that it can be used for any coherent system. The extended calculus is shown to lead to conservative approximations. A first order version of the extended calculus is also discussed. This method of approximation is even more simple to use, but is not always conservative. Examples of its application indicate that it is capable of giving quite accurate results.     

A stock redistribution model

Multi-depot supply systems are subject to stock distribution imbalances; i. e., the fraction of total system stock located at a depot may be too small to support the fraction of system demand expected to be placed on it. In the supply system of concern, a cutomer is always satisfied if there is stock anywhere in the system. Stock redistributions to correct imbalances may reduce both transportation costs and customer waiting times. A model for determining optimum redistribution quantities is formulated, and a practical method of solution for the two depot case is described. Selected numerical illustrations are given.     

Local search methods for the discrete time/resource trade-off problem in project networks

In this paper we consider the discrete time/resource trade-off problem in project networks. Given a project network consisting of nodes (activities) and arcs (technological precedence relations), in which the duration of the activities is a discrete, nonincreasing function of the amount of a single renewable resource committed to it, the discrete time/resource trade-off problem minimizes the project makespan subject to precedence constraints and a single renewable resource constraint. For each activity, a work content is specified such that all execution modes (duration/resource requirement pairs) for performing the activity are allowed as long as the product of the duration and the resource requirement is at least as large as the specified work content. We present a tabu search procedure which is based on a decomposition of the problem into a mode assignment phase and a resource-constrained project scheduling phase with fixed mode assignments. Extensive computational experience, including a comparison with other local search methods, is reported. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 45: 553–578, 1998     

A continuous-review inventory system with lost sales and variable lead time

Using a system-point (SP) method of level crossings, we derive the stationary distribution of the inventory level (stock on hand) in a continuous-review inventory system with compound Poisson demand, Erlang as well as hyperexponentially distributed lead times, and lost sales. This distribution is then used to formulate long-run average cost functions with/without a service level constraint. Some numerical results are also presented, and compared with the Hadley and Whitin heuristic. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 45: 259–278, 1998     

Damage modeling of ballistic penetration and impact behavior of concrete panel under low and high velocities

This work presents a numerical simulation of ballistic penetration and high velocity impact behavior of plain and reinforced concrete panels. This paper is divided into two parts. The first part consists of numerical modeling of reinforced concrete panel penetrated with a spherical projectile using concrete damage plasticity (CDP) model, while the second part focuses on the comparison of CDP model and Johnson-Holmquist-2 (JH-2) damage model and their ability to describe the behavior of concrete panel under impact loads. The first and second concrete panels have dimensions of 1500 mm × 1500 mm × 150 mm and 675 mm × 675 mm × 200 mm, respectively, and are meshed using 8-node hexahedron solid elements. The impact object used in the first part is a spherical projectile of 150 mm diameter, while in the second part steel projectile of a length of 152 mm is modeled as rigid element. Failure and scabbing characteristics are studied in the first part. In the second part, the com-parison results are presented as damage contours, kinetic energy of projectile and internal energy of the concrete. The results revealed a severe fracture of the panel and high kinetic energy of the projectile using CDP model comparing to the JH-2 model. In addition, the internal energy of concrete using CDP model was found to be less comparing to the JH-2 model.