The long term effects of an aging fleet on operational availability and cost: evidence from the U.S. coast guard

This paper empirically examines whether the aging of a fleet affects operational availability and operating cost using a unique data-set on the 117 47-foot Motor Lifeboats (MLBs) of the United States Coast Guard (USCG). Procured from 1997 to 2003, the 47-foot MLB is the standard lifeboat of the USCG and all 117 MLBs remain in service. The aging of the MLB fleet has resulted in higher annual operating costs and lower operational availability, although the nature of this relationship remains unclear. Our estimation strategy utilizes an error components estimator to examine these issues. We employ three variants of the dependent variables (i.e. the standard logarithmic transformation as is most commonly seen in the literature, inverse hyperbolic sine [IHS], and level outcomes). The point estimates from the standard logarithmic model finds operational availability for the MLBs decreases at a rate between 0.83 and 1.8% per year and cost increases at a rate between 0.33 and 7.81% per year. Similar effects are shown with the IHS and level outcome specifications. In terms of nonlinearity effects, we find the most pronounced changes in operational availability and cost occur for MLBs aged 15 years or more (in comparison to younger MLBs).     

一种鱼雷自导信号频率检测方法研究

靶场在进行智能鱼雷鉴定试验任务时,实时准确地检测出鱼雷自导信号的频率成分是靶标信号处理中的重要环节,谱线比值法便是靶标进行信号处理时检测信号频率的一种有效方法。本文介绍了谱线比值法的基本原理,针对目前鱼雷自导信号特点,对该方法提出了改进方案并进行了仿真。仿真结果表明,经改进的谱线比值法能够满足靶标检测复杂鱼雷自导信号体制下信号频率的使用要求。     

On lifetimes in random environments

For a component operating in random environment, whose hazard rate is assumed to be the realization of a suitable increasing stochastic process, conditions are found such that its lifetime is increasing in likelihood ratio (ILR). For the lifetimes of two components of the same kind some comparisons based on partial stochastic orders are presented. Some applications to the case of repairable components are finally provided. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 45: 365–375, 1998     

Effects of total pressures and equivalence ratios on kerosene/air rotating detonation engines using a paralleling CE/SE method

In this paper, the kerosene/air rotating detonation engines(RDE) are numerically investigated, and the emphasis is laid on the effects of total pressures and equivalence ratios on the operation characteristics of RDE including the initiation, instabilities, and propulsive performance. A hybrid MPI + OpenMP parallel computing model is applied and it is proved to be able to obtain a more effective parallel performance on high performance computing(HPC) systems. A series of cases with the total pressure of 1 MPa, 1.5 MPa, 2 MPa, and the equivalence ratio of 0.9, 1, 1.4 are simulated. On one hand, the total pressure shows a significant impact on the instabilities of rotating detonation waves. The instability phenomenon is observed in cases with low total pressure (1 MPa) and weakened with the increase of the total pressure. The total pressure has a small impact on the detonation wave velocity and the specific impulse. On the other hand, the equivalence ratio shows a negligible influence on the instabilities, while it affects the ignition process and accounts for the detonation velocity deficit. It is more difficult to initiate rotating detonation waves directly in the lean fuel operation condition. Little difference was observed in the thrust with different equivalence ratios of 0.9, 1, and 1.4. The highest specific impulse was obtained in the lean fuel cases, which is around 2700 s. The findings could provide insights into the understanding of the operation characteristics of kerosene/air RDE.     

Research on fuze microswitch based on corona discharge effect

Abnormal voltages such as electrostatic, constant current, and strong electromagnetic signals can erro-neously trigger operation of MEMS pyrotechnics and control systems in a fuze, which may result in casualties. This study designs a solid-state micro-scale switch by combining the corona gas discharge theory of asymmetric electric fields and Peek's Law. The MEMS switch can be transferred from "off" to"on" through the gas breakdown between the corona electrodes. In the model, one of the two electrodes is spherical and the other flat, so a non-uniform electric field is formed around the electrodes. The theoretical work is as follows. First, the relation among the radius of curvature of the spherical electrode, the discharge gap, and the air breakdown voltage is obtained; to meet the low voltage (30-60 V) required to drive the MEMS switch, the radius of curvature of the spherical electrode needs to be 10-50 μm and the discharge gap between the two electrodes needs to be 9-11 μm. Second, the optimal ratio ε is introduced to parameterize the model. Finally, the corona discharge structural parameters are determined by comparing the theoretical and electric field simulation results. The switch is then fabricated via MEMS processing. A hardware test platform is built and the performing chip tested. It is found that when the electrode gap is 9 μm, the electrostatic voltage is at least 37.3 V, with an error of 2.6% between the actual and theoretical air breakdown voltages. When the electrode gap is 11 μm, the electrostatic voltage is at least 42.3 V, with an error of 10.5% between the actual and theoretical air breakdown voltages. Both cases meet the design requirements.     

The Organization of the Defense Support System: An Economic Geography Perspective

In the context of restricted budgetary resources and the growing cost of maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) activities, a major issue for modern armed forces is to sustain defense platforms. A possible method consists of realizing economies of scale through the concentration of maintenance activities, which involves the spatial reorganization of existing industrial sites dedicated to MRO. This article provides a formalized framework to discuss the optimal organization for the MRO of defense platforms in space. The public planner organizes the maintenance of defense platforms with only two possible spatial configurations. In the dispersed configuration, two industrial production units in charge of the maintenance optimally cover space, whereas in the concentrated configuration, a unique industrial unit covers space. Focusing on the tipping point between the two configurations, the balance of forces between agglomeration and dispersion in defense support activities is described and discussed. On the one hand, economies of scale provide an opportunity to optimize defense support costs, favoring concentration in a unique industrial unit. On the other hand, space causes dispersion to reduce both transport costs and operational social costs. This trade-off illustrates a general principle in spatial economics with an application to MRO production in the French case.     

低地球轨道卫星网络节能方法

通常卫星的唯一能源来源是太阳能,因此星上网络设备的能源供应问题比地面网络的更加严峻。通过修改和扩展链路容量受限的最小代价多商品流模型来适应卫星网络这一特殊的体系结构,并基于低轨道卫星网络的多重覆盖机制和流量分布模型,改进现有的启发式算法来关闭冗余的卫星节点、星地链路和星间链路。在满足链路利用率和路由跳数增加比例约束的条件下,仿真实验中关闭上述三种参数的比例分别可达59%、61%和72%,卫星网络的总体节能比例可达65%。     

基于北斗短报文的远海实时精密单点定位

针对远海精密导航与定位费用高昂的问题,提出利用北斗短报文传输多模全球导航卫星系统的实时服务数据,实现远海实时精密单点定位。为了降低通信成本和硬件成本,本研究对实时服务数据进行简化,弥补了北斗短报文带宽的不足;为了克服北斗短报文频率低的缺点,采取了实时精密星历预报的方法,来获取分钟间隔以外时刻的卫星轨道位置和钟差改正。对基于北斗短报文的远海实时精密单点定位的数据处理过程进行了仿真模拟。后期处理实测海洋观测数据,对定位性能进行测试,可实现水平方向厘米级定位,竖直方向精度为10~20 cm。该方法为低成本的远海实时定位提供了技术参考。     

线性系统测试矩阵优化

研究了工程中常见的线性系统循环指数为1(即其约当标准形不同的约当块不出现重根)的情况下测试矩阵优化的方法.通过将系统矩阵变换为约当标准型,能够简单地判定测试矩阵能否保持系统可观测.采用该方法可以在保持系统可观测的情况下,简单而直观地获取系统测试代价最小的测试策略.例子表明,该算法在工程上易于应用.     

有限精度的 BP 神经网络高速算法

精度要求是神经网络硬件实现的一个关键问题。本文提出了一种有限精度的BP高速算法，通过实例验证，该算法适于低精度，且收敛速度快。