The assignment of storage locations to containers for a container stack

Assigning storage locations to incoming or reshuffled containers is a fundamental problem essential to the operations efficiency of container terminals. The problem is notoriously hard for its combinatorial and dynamic nature. In this article, we minimize the number of reshuffles in assigning storage locations for incoming and reshuffled export containers. For the static problem to empty a given stack without any new container arrival, the optimum reshuffle sequence is identified by an integer program (IP). The integer program captures the evolution of stack configurations as a function of decisions and is of interest by itself. Heuristics based on the integer program are then derived. Their competitiveness in accuracy and time are established by extensive numerical runs comparing them with existing heuristics in literature and in practice as well as with extensions of the existing heuristics. Variants of the IP‐based heuristics are then applied to the dynamic problem with continual retrievals and arrivals of containers. Again, numerical runs confirm that the IP‐based heuristic is competitive. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2009     

纳米Fe_3O_4磁性流体的制备与测试

采用化学共沉淀法制备Fe_3O_4磁性纳米颗粒,用油酸作为分散剂制备出煤油基和二脂基磁性流体.用X射线荧光光谱仪(XRF)、X射线衍射(XRD)测试分析颗粒的组成、结构、平均粒径,表明所制备的颗粒为纯净Fe_3O_4纳米粒子,其平均粒径小于15 nm,分布均匀.用傅立叶变换红外光谱仪(FTIR)、热重法(TGA) 和导数热重量(DTG)分析法对磁性流体进行性能测试,结果表明磁性流体进行性能稳定,煤油基磁性流体工作温度应低于88.6 ℃,二脂基磁性流体的应低于236.0 ℃.     

模糊控制理论在舰用燃气轮机控制系统中的应用探讨

对模糊控制进行了介绍 ,构造出一种模糊控制器 ,将其编成微机程序 ,使其完成模糊控制功能 .研究它在舰用燃气轮机控制中的应用 .进行了多次燃气轮机模拟试车 ,当对燃气轮机控制系统加入扭矩和振动等控制信号时 ,燃气轮机的稳态和加速过程都获得了良好的控制品质 ,为舰用燃气轮机的控制探索了一种新方法     

基于CNN的视频火焰识别及模型剪枝

针对目前火焰识别仅用单帧图像判断是否起火准确率低的缺点,引入视频识别的方法,通过提取火焰的运动信息提升卷积神经网络(CNN)识别微小火焰的准确率。首先,在CNN Resnet18的最后一层添加3D卷积层,突出火焰的运动特性,抑制其他形式的运动;然后,对该模型进行剪枝处理,压缩网络参数。实验结果表明:在剪去90%卷积核的情况下,该模型准确率仍然保持在86.4%的较高水平,最小可以识别大小为20×30像素的火焰。     

Optimizing usage and maintenance decisions for k‐out‐of‐n systems of moving assets

We consider an integrated usage and maintenance optimization problem for a k‐out‐of‐n system pertaining to a moving asset. The k‐out‐of‐n systems are commonly utilized in practice to increase availability, where n denotes the total number of parallel and identical units and k the number of units required to be active for a functional system. Moving assets such as aircraft, ships, and submarines are subject to different operating modes. Operating modes can dictate not only the number of system units that are needed to be active, but also where the moving asset physically is, and under which environmental conditions it operates. We use the intrinsic age concept to model the degradation process. The intrinsic age is analogous to an intrinsic clock which ticks on a different pace in different operating modes. In our problem setting, the number of active units, degradation rates of active and standby units, maintenance costs, and type of economic dependencies are functions of operating modes. In each operating mode, the decision maker should decide on the set of units to activate (usage decision) and the set of units to maintain (maintenance decision). Since the degradation rate differs for active and standby units, the units to be maintained depend on the units that have been activated, and vice versa. In order to minimize maintenance costs, usage and maintenance decisions should be jointly optimized. We formulate this problem as a Markov decision process and provide some structural properties of the optimal policy. Moreover, we assess the performance of usage policies that are commonly implemented for maritime systems. We show that the cost increase resulting from these policies is up to 27% for realistic settings. Our numerical experiments demonstrate the cases in which joint usage and maintenance optimization is more valuable. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 64: 418–434, 2017     

Progress payments and cost overruns in defence contracts

In recent years military procurement agencies have used “progress payments” in contracting. Although, overall, the adoption of such a policy may well have contributed to a decrease in total costs of procurement, we identify a class of inefficiencies that are likely to have been generated by it.     

The impact of defense and non‐defense public spending on growth in Asia and Latin America∗

For a three‐sector Feder‐Ram framework, we present time‐series, cross‐sectional estimates for two cohorts, consisting of Asian and Latin American countries. The estimates indicate that private investment, and defense and non‐defense public spending are growth promoting for alternative error components representations. For the best error components representation, greater growth enhancement is associated with the two forms of public spending in Asia than in Latin America, while the opposite comparison characterizes private investment. Although defense is growth promoting, an opportunity cost exists insofar as non‐defense spending, financed by defense spending, appears to give a small net boost to growth in Latin America.     

Statistical equivalency and optimality of simple step‐stress accelerated test plans for the exponential distribution

Accelerated life testing (ALT) is commonly used to obtain reliability information about a product in a timely manner. Several stress loading designs have been proposed and recent research interests have emerged concerning the development of equivalent ALT plans. Step‐stress ALT (SSALT) is one of the most commonly used stress loadings because it usually shortens the test duration and reduces the number of required test units. This article considers two fundamental questions when designing a SSALT and provides formal proofs in answer to each. Namely: (1) can a simple SSALT be designed so that it is equivalent to other stress loading designs? (2) when optimizing a multilevel SSALT, does it degenerate to a simple SSALT plan? The answers to both queries, under certain reasonable model assumptions, are shown to be a qualified YES. In addition, we provide an argument to support the rationale of a common practice in designing a SSALT, that is, setting the higher stress level as high as possible in a SSALT plan. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2013