Balancing a one‐way corridor capacity and safety‐oriented reliability: A stochastic optimization approach for metro train timetabling

In urban rail transit systems of large cities, the headway and following distance of successive trains have been compressed as much as possible to enhance the corridor capacity to satisfy extremely high passenger demand during peak hours. To prevent train collisions and ensure the safety of trains, a safe following distance of trains must be maintained. However, this requirement is subject to a series of complex factors, such as the uncertain train braking performance, train communication delay, and driver reaction time. In this paper, we propose a unified mathematical framework to analyze the safety‐oriented reliability of metro train timetables with different corridor capacities, that is, the train traffic density, and determine the most reliable train timetable for metro lines in an uncertain environment. By employing a space‐time network representation in the formulations, the reliability‐based train timetabling problem is formulated as a nonlinear stochastic programming model, in which we use 0‐1 variables to denote the time‐dependent velocity and position of all involved trains. Several reformulation techniques are developed to obtain an equivalent mixed integer programming model with quadratic constraints (MIQCP) that can be solved to optimality by some commercial solvers. To improve the computational efficiency of the MIQCP model, we develop a dual decomposition solution framework that decomposes the primal problem into several sets of subproblems by dualizing the coupling constraints across different samples. An exact dynamic programming combined with search space reduction strategies is also developed to solve the exact optimal solutions of these subproblems. Two sets of numerical experiments, which involve a relatively small‐scale case and a real‐world instance based on the operation data of the Beijing subway Changping Line are implemented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.     

并联TBCC动力对高超声速飞行器性能的影响

针对马赫数为6的一级高超声速巡航飞行器的动力需求,提出涡轮/亚燃冲压/双模态超燃冲压组合动力（T/RJ/DMSJ）和射流预冷涡轮/亚燃冲压/双模态超燃冲压组合动力(PCT/RJ/DMSJ)两种方案。在给定的飞行任务下,分析起飞推重比分别为0.8和1.0时,飞行器完成任务时的航程和飞行时间,并对比了PCT/RJ/DMSJ在两种工作模态下的性能。研究结果表明：在相同的起飞推重比下,两种组合动力方案的航程和飞行时间相差不大。当起飞推重比为0.8时,采用PCT/RJ/DMSJ组合动力方案比T/RJ/DMSJ组合动力方案的航程高出3.6%,飞行时间高出3.8%;当起飞推重比为1.0时,PCT/RJ/DMSJ的航程和飞行时间比T/RJ/DMSJ的分别高出4.6%和4.8%。在小推重比下,跨声速段的燃料消耗和飞行时间占整个加速爬升段的比例较大,随着推重比的增加,这个比例减小,巡航可用的燃料比例增大,巡航距离增加,提高起飞推重比可以提高超声速飞行器的航程并缩短飞行时间。     

Adaptive random search for continuous simulation optimization

We present, analyze, and compare three random search methods for solving stochastic optimization problems with uncountable feasible regions. Our adaptive search with resampling (ASR) approach is a framework for designing provably convergent algorithms that are adaptive and may consequently involve local search. The deterministic and stochastic shrinking ball (DSB and SSB) approaches are also convergent, but they are based on pure random search with the only difference being the estimator of the optimal solution [the DSB method was originally proposed and analyzed by Baumert and Smith]. The three methods use different techniques to reduce the effects of noise in the estimated objective function values. Our ASR method achieves this goal through resampling of already sampled points, whereas the DSB and SSB approaches address it by averaging observations in balls that shrink with time. We present conditions under which the three methods are convergent, both in probability and almost surely, and provide a limited computational study aimed at comparing the methods. Although further investigation is needed, our numerical results suggest that the ASR approach is promising, especially for difficult problems where the probability of identifying good solutions using pure random search is small. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010     

The one‐warehouse multiretailer problem with an order‐up‐to level inventory policy

We consider a two‐level system in which a warehouse manages the inventories of multiple retailers. Each retailer employs an order‐up‐to level inventory policy over T periods and faces an external demand which is dynamic and known. A retailer's inventory should be raised to its maximum limit when replenished. The problem is to jointly decide on replenishment times and quantities of warehouse and retailers so as to minimize the total costs in the system. Unlike the case in the single level lot‐sizing problem, we cannot assume that the initial inventory will be zero without loss of generality. We propose a strong mixed integer program formulation for the problem with zero and nonzero initial inventories at the warehouse. The strong formulation for the zero initial inventory case has only T binary variables and represents the convex hull of the feasible region of the problem when there is only one retailer. Computational results with a state‐of‐the art solver reveal that our formulations are very effective in solving large‐size instances to optimality. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010     

A stochastic gradual cover location problem

Covering models assume that a point is covered if it is within a certain distance from a facility and not covered beyond that distance. In gradual cover models it is assumed that a point is fully covered within a given distance from a facility, then cover gradually declines, and the point is not covered beyond a larger distance. Gradual cover models address the discontinuity in cover which may not be the correct approach in many situations. In the stochastic gradual cover model presented in this article it is assumed that the short and long distances employed in gradual cover models are random variables. This refinement of gradual cover models provides yet a more realistic depiction of actual behavior in many situations. The maximal cover model based on the new concept is analyzed and the single facility location cover problem in the plane is solved. Computational results illustrating the effectiveness of the solution procedures are presented. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010     

基于饱和信息维的信息资源聚焦的数学模型

运用饱和信息维的增减技术对信息获取子空间进行结构上的剖分,将饱和信息维的"值"的获取分解为"白"与"灰"两部分,用饱和信息维列作为因子列来构造灰色关联空间,用关联序来描述信息之间的相关联程度,得到信息资源聚焦的一种新的数学模型。     

一类二阶微分方程Poincaré分岔极限环的不存在性

讨论一类二阶微分方程x¨+εf(x,x.)x.+g(x)=0的Poincar分岔极限环的不存在性,利用一阶Mel’nikov函数直接从整体上进行分析讨论,得出了若干充分条件和判别准则。     

军事欺骗战法分析的数学方法-应用

针对军事欺骗战法定量分析困难的问题,采用基于贝叶斯统计推断和博弈均衡分析的数学方法,在理论上为解决此难题提供了一种可行的方法。该方法首先定义基本概率矩阵,然后根据贝叶斯原理为交战双方构造用于统计推断的主观概率矩阵,并在由两个主观概率矩阵元素构成的偏序链与实施军事欺骗机会之间建立对应关系,再将此关系推广到基本概率矩阵,即是否存在实施军事欺骗的机会将由基本概率矩阵元素构成的偏序链决定。对理论成果的初步应用表明：通过分析由战场情报信息构成的基本概率矩阵的偏序链,可以科学地运用军事欺骗和反军事欺骗战法。     

Dynamic signatures and their use in comparing the reliability of new and used systems

The signature of a system with independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) component lifetimes is a vector whose ith element is the probability that the ith component failure is fatal to the system. System signatures have been found to be quite useful tools in the study and comparison of engineered systems. In this article, the theory of system signatures is extended to versions of signatures applicable in dynamic reliability settings. It is shown that, when a working used system is inspected at time t and it is noted that precisely k failures have occurred, the vector s [0,1]^n‐k whose jth element is the probability that the (k + j)th component failure is fatal to the system, for j = 1,2,2026;,n ‐ k, is a distribution‐free measure of the design of the residual system. Next, known representation and preservation theorems for system signatures are generalized to dynamic versions. Two additional applications of dynamic signatures are studied in detail. The well‐known “new better than used” (NBU) property of aging systems is extended to a uniform (UNBU) version, which compares systems when new and when used, conditional on the known number of failures. Sufficient conditions are given for a system to have the UNBU property. The application of dynamic signatures to the engineering practice of “burn‐in” is also treated. Specifically, we consider the comparison of new systems with working used systems burned‐in to a given ordered component failure time. In a reliability economics framework, we illustrate how one might compare a new system to one successfully burned‐in to the kth component failure, and we identify circumstances in which burn‐in is inferior (or is superior) to the fielding of a new system. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2009     

Statistical analysis of exponential lifetimes under an adaptive Type‐II progressive censoring scheme

In this article, a mixture of Type‐I censoring and Type‐II progressive censoring schemes, called an adaptive Type‐II progressive censoring scheme, is introduced for life testing or reliability experiments. For this censoring scheme, the effective sample size m is fixed in advance, and the progressive censoring scheme is provided but the number of items progressively removed from the experiment upon failure may change during the experiment. If the experimental time exceeds a prefixed time T but the number of observed failures does not reach m, we terminate the experiment as soon as possible by adjusting the number of items progressively removed from the experiment upon failure. Computational formulae for the expected total test time are provided. Point and interval estimation of the failure rate for exponentially distributed failure times are discussed for this censoring scheme. The various methods are compared using Monte Carlo simulation. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2009