Productivity estimates of the strategic airlift system by the use of simulation

Although the strategic airlift system is under continuous analysis, C-5A problems provided impetus to analyze the airlift system productivity function by using a large-scale simulation model. Development of the simulation model (Simulation of Airlift Resources - SOAR) was initiated by the Office of Secretary of Defense (Systems Analysis) in 1966. SOAR had barely become operational in time for the study in November 1968. Since limited verification and validation tests had been performed on the simulation model, the design of experiments was of critical importance. The experimental design had to be flexible enough to salvage the maximum amount of information possible upon the discovery of either a verification or validation error. In addition, the experimental design was required to accommodate the estimation of a large number of possibly changing independent variables. The experimental design developed for the analysis was full factorial design sets for a finite number of factors. Initial analysis began with aggregated sets of factors at two levels, and information gained from experiment execution was used to parse the sets. The process was sequential and parsing continued until the major explanatory independent variables were identified or enough information was obtained to eliminate the factor from further direct analysis. This design permitted the overlapping of simulation runs to fill out the factorial design sets. In addition to estimating the airlift productivity function, several other findings are reported which tended to disprove previous assumptions about the nature of the strategic airlift system.     

A finiteness proof for modified dantzig cuts in integer programming

Let be a basic solution to the linear programming problem subject to: where R is the index set associated with the nonbasic variables. If all of the variables are constrained to be nonnegative integers and x_u is not an integer in the basic solution, the linear constraint is implied. We prove that including these “cuts” in a specified way yields a finite dual simplex algorithm for the pure integer programming problem. The relation of these modified Dantzig cuts to Gomory cuts is discussed.     

Nonpreemptive scheduling of independent tasks with prespecified processor allocations

In this article we study the problem of scheduling independent tasks, each of which requires the simultaneous availability of a set of prespecified processors, with the objective of minimizing the maximum completion time. We propose a graph-theoretical approach and identify a class of polynomial instances, corresponding to comparability graphs. We show that the scheduling problem is polynomially equivalent to the problem of extending a graph to a comparability graph whose maximum weighted clique has minimum weight. Using this formulation we show that in some cases it is possible to decompose the problem according to the canonical decomposition of the graph. Finally, a general solution procedure is given that includes a branch-and-bound algorithm for the solution of subproblems which can be neither decomposed nor solved in polynomial time. Some examples and computational results are presented. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

舰船总体性能可靠性建模方法研究

分析了舰船总体性能可靠性问题的产生原因,将其分为2类.对于舰载设备本身存在可靠性问题而造成的,以航速可靠性为例,在舰船总体可靠性的背景下,借助相关数学工具进行了建模方法分析;对于外界随机因素影响而造成的,如横稳性的可靠性问题,则从分析外界随机因素与船体设计参数之间关系入手.初步建立了一套研究舰船总体性能可靠性问题的建模方法.实例计算表明,将所建模型用于分析舰船总体性能比常规方法具有明显的优越性.     

A decomposition algorithm applied to planning the interdiction of stochastic networks

We describe the application of a decomposition based solution method to a class of network interdiction problems. The problem of maximizing the probability of sufficient disruption of the flow of information or goods in a network whose characteristics are not certain is shown to be solved effectively by applying a scenario decomposition method developed by Riis and Schultz [Comput Optim Appl 24 (2003), 267–287]. Computational results demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm and design decisions that result in speed improvements. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2005.     

Linking a throughput simulation to a systems dynamics simulation to assess the utility of a US Navy foreign humanitarian aid mission

The success of any humanitarian aid mission is generally measured by the timeliness of critical supplies that are delivered to the affected area. However, a more interesting analysis may be to determine the effect of the aid on the overall satisfaction of the local population. The authors' research focused on the delivery of humanitarian aid to a notional region that was decimated by flooding with ships, landing craft and security personnel provided by the US Navy and Marines. While the research effort addressed naval force structure, the focus of the research was: (1) to assess different delivery methods for the aid; and (2) to determine how the aid delivery impacted the overall satisfaction of the local population. To examine both concerns, two simulation models were developed, with one examining the throughput of aid delivered during the operation, and the other the satisfaction of the population based on the humanitarian aid effort.