Optimal interdiction policy for a flow network

This paper analyzes the problem faced by a field commander who, confronted by an enemy on N battlefields, must determine an interdiction policy for the enemy's logistics system which minimizes the amount of war material flowing through this system per unit time. The resource utilized to achieve this interdiction is subject to constraint. It can be shown that this problem is equivalent to determining the set of arcs Z* to remove subject to constraint from a directed graph G such that the resulting maximal flow is minimized. A branch and bound algorithm for the solution to this problem is described, and a numerical example is provided.     

Heuristic modeling of supply availabilities in large networks

The objective of this article is to describe heuristic solutions to the problem of modeling inventories at each node of a large network in the context of a computer simulation model of that network. The heuristic solutions are compared with the mathematical solution which is too unwieldy for use in a simulation model. The Weibull cumulative distribution is used as an approximation for the heuristic models. We question whether the good performance of the Weibull is coincidence or perhaps mathematically justifiable.     

A heuristic with tie breaking for certain 0–1 integer programming models

A heuristic for 0–1 integer programming is proposed that features a specific rule for breaking ties that occur when attempting to determine a variable to set to 1 during a given iteration. It is tested on a large number of small- to moderate-sized randomly generated generalized set-packing models. Solutions are compared to those obtained using an existing well-regarded heuristic and to solutions to the linear programming relaxations. Results indicate that the proposed heuristic outperforms the existing heuristic except for models in which the number of constraints is large relative to the number of variables. In this case, it performs on par with the existing heuristic. Results also indicate that use of a specific rule for tie breaking can be very effective, especially for low-density models in which the number of variables is large relative to the number of constraints.     

Inventory management with advance capacity information

An important aspect of supply chain management is dealing with demand and supply uncertainty. The uncertainty of future supply can be reduced if a company is able to obtain advance capacity information (ACI) about future supply/production capacity availability from its supplier. We address a periodic‐review inventory system under stochastic demand and stochastic limited supply, for which ACI is available. We show that the optimal ordering policy is a state‐dependent base‐stock policy characterized by a base‐stock level that is a function of ACI. We establish a link with inventory models that use advance demand information (ADI) by developing a capacitated inventory system with ADI, and we show that equivalence can only be set under a very specific and restrictive assumption, implying that ADI insights will not necessarily hold in the ACI environment. Our numerical results reveal several managerial insights. In particular, we show that ACI is most beneficial when there is sufficient flexibility to react to anticipated demand and supply capacity mismatches. Further, most of the benefits can be achieved with only limited future visibility. We also show that the system parameters affecting the value of ACI interact in a complex way and therefore need to be considered in an integrated manner. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2011     

一种用于直线度测量的多功能,简单,低成本电容传感器

线性运动在精密工程中被广泛应用。由于寄生运动的存在,要实现线性工作台或轴承完美无缺的直线运动几乎是不可能的。这些寄生运动包括:两个方向的平动(y和z),三个方向的转动,即滚动(Φ_x),垂直俯仰(Φ_y),水平晃动(Φ_z)。使用机械元件,这些寄生运动的数量级分别为1μm和1mrad。修改机械设计来增加直线运动的精度通常是困难的而     

Landmarks in defense literature

A Study of War by Quincy Wright, Second edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965, 1,637 pp.