Pairwise model discrimination with applications in lifetime distributions and degradation processes

Reliability data obtained from life tests and degradation tests have been extensively used for purposes such as estimating product reliability and predicting warranty costs. When there is more than one candidate model, an important task is to discriminate between the models. In the literature, the model discrimination was often treated as a hypothesis test and a pairwise model discrimination procedure was carried out. Because the null distribution of the test statistic is unavailable in most cases, the large sample approximation and the bootstrap were frequently used to find the acceptance region of the test. Although these two methods are asymptotically accurate, their performance in terms of size and power is not satisfactory in small sample size. To enhance the small‐sample performance, we propose a new method to approximate the null distribution, which builds on the idea of generalized pivots. Conventionally, the generalized pivots were often used for interval estimation of a certain parameter or function of parameters in presence of nuisance parameters. In this study, we further extend the idea of generalized pivots to find the acceptance region of the model discrimination test. Through extensive simulations, we show that the proposed method performs better than the existing methods in discriminating between two lifetime distributions or two degradation models over a wide range of sample sizes. Two real examples are used to illustrate the proposed methods.     

高效率机动部署航空武器靶场关键技术和应用

为用户设计了一个航空武器试验靶场,具备空空、空地和地空导弹试验能力,可机动部署,具有易于运行和运维代价低的特点。靶场由载机遥测系统、测量雷达、光电跟踪系统、微波和光纤通信系统、靶机遥测站、指挥控制等6个子系统构成;指挥控制子系统之外的5个子系统均使用国产成熟产品。在总体方案和指挥控制子系统设计中,对互联集成方案、机动部署、试验航线设计和发布、自动化领航、自动化指挥决策等5项关键技术进行了着重优化。在实际应用中,全靶场运行仅需20多成员(不含飞行和机场机务人员),3天内完成新试验场部署和联调,对作战部队飞行员进行5架次航线训练后即进行实弹试验,2天内完成多发中程拦截和近距格斗空空导弹试验。     

MAD,not Marx: Khrushchev and the nuclear revolution

The revival of nuclear strategy in US policy and scholarship has been strengthened by arguments that the ‘nuclear revolution’ – the assumption that thermonuclear bombs and missiles had made major war too dangerous to wage – does not affect international behaviour as much as nuclear revolution advocates claim. This article shows that the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev indeed regarded nuclear war as too dangerous to wage, a decision which manifested itself not so much in foreign policy or military doctrine but in his determination to avoid war when the possibility arose. We argue that Khrushchev’s experience provides us with a more useful way to characterise the nuclear revolution and suggest some implications of this argument for contemporary debates about nuclear weaponry.     

Combating nuclear smuggling? Exploring drivers and challenges to detecting nuclear and radiological materials at maritime facilities

International concern over nuclear terrorism has grown during the past few decades. This has driven a broad spectrum of efforts to strengthen nuclear security globally, including the widespread adoption of radiation-detection technology for border monitoring. Detection systems are now deployed at strategic locations for the purported purpose of detecting and deterring the smuggling of nuclear and radioactive materials. However, despite considerable investment in this area, few studies have examined how these programs are implemented or the operational challenges they face on a day-to-day basis. This article seeks to address this with a focus on radiation-detection efforts at maritime facilities. Utilizing practitioner interviews and a survey, this article identifies the factors that influence the planning and use of these systems in this fast-moving environment. The results clearly demonstrate that the implementation of these systems varies significantly across different national and organizational contexts, resulting in a fragmented global nuclear-detection architecture, which arguably undermines efforts to detect trafficked nuclear-threat materials. Greater consideration should therefore be given to developing international standards and guidance, designing and adopting tools to support key parts of the alarm assessment process, and broader sharing of good practice.     

The stability of the nuclear nonproliferation norm: a critique of norm-contestation theory

This article argues that the nuclear nonproliferation norm (NNPN) is a social fact with a relatively independent life of its own and that it has a powerful impact on the behavior of both nuclear-weapon states (NWS) and non-nuclear-weapon states (NNWS). It challenges the application of critical constructivist research on norms to the NNPN and the idea that its legitimacy and structural power depend on contestation “all the way down.” State and non-state actors play an important role in explaining the dynamics of the NNPN, but agential constructivism runs the danger of “throwing the baby out with the bath water,” neglecting the structural impact of the NNPN on state behavior. The article examines the limitations of norm-contestation theory, arguing that some norms are more resistant to contestation than others. The NNPN is more difficult to contest than new norms (such as the Responsibility to Protect) because it is rooted in fifty years of nonproliferation nuclear diplomacy. The US-India nuclear deal is not a case of “norm change” but a violation of the NNPN. The “core” of the NNPN has not changed since the US-India nuclear deal. The conflict confronting NWS and NNWS is about the implementation of “type 2” norms (organizing principles) and “type 3” norms (standardized procedures), and not about the “hard core” of the NNPN.     

Avoiding self-inflicted wounds to the credibility of the US nuclear deterrent

Nuclear deterrence requires not only the reliability of a state’s strategic weapons and the willingness of its leaders to employ them but also an adversary’s appreciation of these conditions. Weapons perceived as failing to hold their targets at risk may lack deterrent value, just as retaliatory threats that are not believable may fail to deter, even if a state’s operational capabilities are robust. Both the technical and political credibility of the US nuclear deterrent may have suffered self-inflicted harm since the end of the Cold War, often as casualties of intemperate policy debates. In particular, doubts have been sowed about the reliability of aging US warheads under a science-based stockpile-stewardship regime meant to substitute for nuclear-explosive testing. Likewise, the credibility of US deterrent threats may have waned as American leaders have spoken ever more stridently about the horrors of nuclear war and nuclear terrorism, underscoring their extreme aversion to the risk of nuclear attack. Diminished credibility in both spheres threatens to compromise US national-security objectives ranging from nuclear nonproliferation to the outcomes of nuclear crises.     

Parametric study of single confined fragment launch explosive device

In this article, parametric study of single confined fragment launch device was carried out. The configuration proposed was further studied to derive the empirical relationship for effect of fragment size, charge size, confinement thickness on fragment velocity. The simulations were carried out using ANSYS-AUTODYNE explicit solver. Fragment velocities were estimated as a function of different parametric combinations of explosive quantities, charge length to diameter ratio, fragment height to diameter ratio, confinement thickness, fragment material and fragment mass. The data was further converted to charge to metal ratio under fragment and confinement. It was observed that, increase in confinement thickness, charge quantity and decrease in fragment height increases the fragment velocity. It is also noted that, charge to metal mass ratio under fragment significantly affects the fragment velocity. At the end, an empirical relationship for fragment velocity interms of all these parameters was established. Using these relations, two velocities 1831.92 m/s and 2523.9 m/s required for NATO STANAG 4496 IM test were estimated. The design parameters for these velocities are presented. Also, the results estimated using the empirical relationship has been compared with published experimental data. Error in the predicted velocities is within the acceptable range. The empirical relationship proposed will be useful for finalization of design of the fragment launch device.     

利用过阻尼电路合成高压方波脉冲

在过阻尼RLC电路分时放电的基础上,提出新型高压方波脉冲产生方法。理论分析表明:过阻尼RLC电路产生的双指数电压波与脉冲形成线产生的方形电压波具有类似的上升沿和平顶。电路模拟表明:通过人工过零技术可以对双指数电压波进行截尾,从而形成完整的高压方波脉冲。建立了原理验证性样机,由两组RLC电路构成,每组电路包含一台脉冲电容器和一只三电极场畸变气体开关,两组电路共用一个上升沿调节电感。实验证明:样机可以在电阻负载上输出幅值为17 kV、平顶宽度为330 ns～5.8μs、上升沿为100～350 ns的单极性高压方波脉冲。该方法适应性强,对负载变化不敏感,同时具有良好的可调节性,方波上升沿、平顶宽度连续独立可调。     

PMI泡沫夹层结构雷达天线罩间接热-结构耦合分析与实验研究

机载PMI泡沫夹层结构雷达天线罩在环境温度变化时将产生表面变形现象并影响其使用性能,但对天线罩热变形结果进行实时检测分析具有一定难度。通过ANSYS间接热-结构耦合法建立了分析模型,对天线罩进行了计算分析,采用热膨胀片状模型进行了理论分析,在此基础上,设计并开展了温度冲击实验研究。结果表明, PMI夹层结构天线罩的热-结构耦合变形综合应变趋势是棱边处膨胀程度最大,由边缘至天线罩透波面中心处,膨胀程度逐渐减小;间接热-结构耦合计算应变值与实测应变值之间平均相差35.08%,间接热-结构耦合分析方法与模型具有一定的可信性。     

利用RLC电路合成高压方波脉冲

基于过阻尼RLC电路分时放电,提出了一种新型高压方波脉冲产生方法。理论分析表明过阻尼RLC电路产生的双指数电压波与PFL产生的方形电压波具有类似的上升沿和平顶。电路模拟表明通过人工过零技术可以对双指数电压波进行截尾,从而形成完整的高压方波脉冲。建立了原理验证性样机,由两组RLC电路构成,每组电路包含一台400 nF脉冲电容器和一只三电极场畸变气体开关,两组电路共用一个上升沿调节电感。实验证明样机可以在250 Ω电阻负载上输出幅值17 kV,平顶宽度330 ns~5.8 μs,上升沿100~ 350 ns 的单极性高压方波脉冲。该方法适应性强,对负载变化不敏感,同时具有良好的可调节性,方波上升沿、平顶宽度连续独立可调。