二维超声速空气引射器启动特性试验研究

超声速引射器是高空模拟试车台的重要组件,在发动机启动前利用引射器对试验舱预抽真空,可避免发动机启动初始时刻燃气漏入试验舱造成燃气在发动机中分离,对获取发动机在高空环境下的完整推力特性具有重要意义。而该工况下超声速引射器的启动过程是引射器工作过程中最为恶劣的工况,设计不合理的引射器会导致启动压力过高甚至不能实现启动。建立了缩比超声速空气引射器试验台对超声速引射器的启动特性进行研究,采用压力测量方法结合纹影技术对超声速引射器处于极限启动压比时的流场进行了描述,研究结果表明混合室收缩比越小,引射器极限启动压比越低。同时给出了定位超声速引射器不启动原因的判据:当引射器不启动是由引射总压不足引起时,盲腔压力在引射总压提高时降低,并在临界启动状态下达到最小值;而由混合室收缩比过小导致的引射器不启动在引射总压提高时盲腔压力单调上升。     

Approximation results for min‐max path cover problems in vehicle routing

This article studies a min‐max path cover problem, which is to determine a set of paths for k capacitated vehicles to service all the customers in a given weighted graph so that the largest path cost is minimized. The problem has wide applications in vehicle routing, especially when the minimization of the latest service completion time is a critical performance measure. We have analyzed four typical variants of this problem, where the vehicles have either unlimited or limited capacities, and they start from either a given depot or any depot of a given depot set. We have developed approximation algorithms for these four variants, which achieve approximation ratios of max{3 ‐ 2/k,2}, 5, max{5 ‐ 2/k,4}, and 7, respectively. We have also analyzed the approximation hardness of these variants by showing that, unless P = NP , it is impossible for them to achieve approximation ratios less than 4/3, 3/2, 3/2, and 2, respectively. We have further extended the techniques and results developed for this problem to other min‐max vehicle routing problems.© 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010     

Information security: Designing a stochastic‐network for throughput and reliability

Todas information and communication network requires a design that is secure to tampering. Traditional performance measures of reliability and throughput must be supplemented with measures of security. Recognition of an adversary who can inflict damage leads toward a game‐theoretic model. Through such a formulation, guidelines for network designs and improvements are derived. We opt for a design that is most robust to withstand both natural degradation and adversarial attacks. Extensive computational experience with such a model suggests that a Nash‐equilibrium design exists that can withstand the worst possible damage. Most important, the equilibrium is value‐free in that it is stable irrespective of the unit costs associated with reliability vs. capacity improvement and how one wishes to trade between throughput and reliability. This finding helps to pinpoint the most critical components in network design. From a policy standpoint, the model also allows the monetary value of information‐security to be imputed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2009     

Approximating the nondominated frontiers of multi‐objective combinatorial optimization problems

Finding all nondominated vectors for multi‐objective combinatorial optimization (MOCO) problems is computationally very hard in general. We approximate the nondominated frontiers of MOCO problems by fitting smooth hypersurfaces. For a given problem, we fit the hypersurface using a single nondominated reference vector. We experiment with different types of MOCO problems and demonstrate that in all cases the fitted hypersurfaces approximate all nondominated vectors well. We discuss that such an approximation is useful to find the neighborhood of preferred regions of the nondominated vectors with very little computational effort. Further computational effort can then be spent in the identified region to find the actual nondominated vectors the decision maker will prefer. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2009     

Energy‐efficient scheduling for sustainable manufacturing systems with renewable energy resources

Environmentally friendly energy resources open a new opportunity to tackle the problem of energy security and climate change arising from wide use of fossil fuels. This paper focuses on optimizing the allocation of the energy generated by the renewable energy system to minimize the total electricity cost for sustainable manufacturing systems under time‐of‐use tariff by clipping the peak demand. A rolling horizon approach is adopted to handle the uncertainty caused by the weather change. A nonlinear mathematical programming model is established for each decision epoch based on the predicted energy generation and the probability distribution of power demand in the manufacturing plant. The objective function of the model is shown to be convex, Lipchitz‐continuous, and subdifferentiable. A generalized benders decomposition method based on the primal‐dual subgradient descent algorithm is proposed to solve the model. A series of numerical experiments is conducted to show the effectiveness of the solution approach and the significant benefits of using the renewable energy resources.     

Optimal allocation of minimal repairs in parallel and series systems

In reliability engineering, the concept of minimal repair describes that the repair brings the failed unit (eg, system or component) to the situation which is same as it was just before the failure. With the help of the well‐known Gamma‐Poisson relationship, this paper investigates optimal allocation strategies of minimal repairs for parallel and series systems through implementing stochastic comparisons of various allocation policies in terms of the hazard rate, the reversed hazard rate, and the likelihood ratio orderings. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate these findings as well. These results not only strengthen and generalize some known ones in the seminal work of Shaked and Shanthikumar, but also solve the open problems proposed by Chahkandi et al.'s study and Arriaza et al.'s study.     

Single‐machine scheduling with deadlines to minimize the total weighted late work

We consider scheduling a set of jobs with deadlines to minimize the total weighted late work on a single machine, where the late work of a job is the amount of processing of the job that is scheduled after its due date and before its deadline. This is the first study on scheduling with the late work criterion under the deadline restriction. In this paper, we show that (i) the problem is unary NP‐hard even if all the jobs have a unit weight, (ii) the problem is binary NP‐hard and admits a pseudo‐polynomial‐time algorithm and a fully polynomial‐time approximation scheme if all the jobs have a common due date, and (iii) some special cases of the problem are polynomially solvable.     

Oligopolistic contracting: Channel coordination under competition

We study contracts between a single retailer and multiple suppliers of two substitutable products, where suppliers have fixed capacities and present the retailer cost contracts for their supplies. After observing the contracts, the retailer decides how much capacity to purchase from each supplier, to maximize profits from the purchased capacity from the suppliers plus his possessed inventory (endowment). This is modeled as a noncooperative, nonzero‐sum game, where suppliers, or principals, move simultaneously as leaders and the retailer, the common agent, is the sole follower. We are interested in the form of the contracts in equilibrium, their effect on the total supply chain profit, and how the profit is split between the suppliers and the retailer. Under mild assumptions, we characterize the set of all equilibrium contracts and discuss all‐unit and marginal‐unit quantity discounts as special cases. We also show that the supply chain is coordinated in equilibrium with a unique profit split between the retailer and the suppliers. Each supplier's profit is equal to the marginal contribution of her capacity to supply chain profits in equilibrium. The retailer's profit is equal to the total revenue collected from the market minus the payments to the suppliers and the associated sales costs.     

Dynamic server assignment policies for assembly‐type queues with flexible servers

We seek dynamic server assignment policies in finite‐capacity queueing systems with flexible and collaborative servers, which involve an assembly and/or a disassembly operation. The objective is to maximize the steady‐state throughput. We completely characterize the optimal policy for a Markovian system with two servers, two feeder stations, and instantaneous assembly and disassembly operations. This optimal policy allocates one server per station unless one of the stations is blocked, in which case both servers work at the unblocked station. For Markovian systems with three stations and instantaneous assembly and/or disassembly operations, we consider similar policies that move a server away from his/her “primary” station only when that station is blocked or starving. We determine the optimal assignment of each server whose primary station is blocked or starving in systems with three stations and zero buffers, by formulating the problem as a Markov decision process. Using this optimal assignment, we develop heuristic policies for systems with three or more stations and positive buffers, and show by means of a numerical study that these policies provide near‐optimal throughput. Furthermore, our numerical study shows that these policies developed for assembly‐type systems also work well in tandem systems. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

The building evacuation problem with shared information

In this article, the Building Evacuation Problem with Shared Information (BEPSI) is formulated as a mixed integer linear program, where the objective is to determine the set of routes along which to send evacuees (supply) from multiple locations throughout a building (sources) to the exits (sinks) such that the total time until all evacuees reach the exits is minimized. The formulation explicitly incorporates the constraints of shared information in providing online instructions to evacuees, ensuring that evacuees departing from an intermediate or source location at a mutual point in time receive common instructions. Arc travel time and capacity, as well as supply at the nodes, are permitted to vary with time and capacity is assumed to be recaptured over time. The BEPSI is shown to be NP‐hard. An exact technique based on Benders decomposition is proposed for its solution. Computational results from numerical experiments on a real‐world network representing a four‐story building are given. Results of experiments employing Benders cuts generated in solving a given problem instance as initial cuts in addressing an updated problem instance are also provided. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008