Replacing nonidentical vital components to extend system life

We consider a system that depends on a single vital component. If this component fails, the system life will terminate. If the component is replaced before its failure then the system life may be extended; however, there are only a finite number of spare components. In addition, the lifetimes of these spare components are not necessarily identically distributed. We propose a model for scheduling component replacements so as to maximize the expected system survival. We find the counterintuitive result that when comparing components' general lifetime distributions based on stochastic orderings, not even the strongest ordering provides an a priori guarantee of the optimal sequencing of components. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

The logistic–exponential survival distribution

For various parameter combinations, the logistic–exponential survival distribution belongs to four common classes of survival distributions: increasing failure rate, decreasing failure rate, bathtub‐shaped failure rate, and upside‐down bathtub‐shaped failure rate. Graphical comparison of this new distribution with other common survival distributions is seen in a plot of the skewness versus the coefficient of variation. The distribution can be used as a survival model or as a device to determine the distribution class from which a particular data set is drawn. As the three‐parameter version is less mathematically tractable, our major results concern the two‐parameter version. Boundaries for the maximum likelihood estimators of the parameters are derived in this article. Also, a fixed‐point method to find the maximum likelihood estimators for complete and censored data sets has been developed. The two‐parameter and the three‐parameter versions of the logistic–exponential distribution are applied to two real‐life data sets. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

Threshold optimization for weighted voting classifiers

Weighted voting classifiers considered in this paper consist of N units each providing individual classification decisions. The entire system output is based on tallying the weighted votes for each decision and choosing the one which has total support weight exceeding a certain threshold. Each individual unit may abstain from voting. The entire system may also abstain from voting if no decision support weight exceeds the threshold. Existing methods of evaluating the reliability of weighted voting systems can be applied to limited special cases of these systems and impose some restrictions on their parameters. In this paper a universal generating function method is suggested which allows the reliability of weighted voting classifiers to be exactly evaluated without imposing constraints on unit weights. Based on this method, the classifier reliability is determined as a function of a threshold factor, and a procedure is suggested for finding the threshold which minimizes the cost of damage caused by classifier failures (misclassification and abstention may have different price.) Dynamic and static threshold voting rules are considered and compared. A method of analyzing the influence of units' availability on the entire classifier reliability is suggested, and illustrative examples are presented. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 50: 322–344, 2003.     

Network reliability assessment in a random environment

In this paper we consider networks that consist of components operating under a randomly changing common environment. Our work is motivated by power system networks that are subject to fluctuating weather conditions over time that affect the performance of the network. We develop a general setup for any network that is subject to such environment and present results for network reliability assessment under two repair scenarios. We also present Bayesian analysis of network failure data and illustrate how reliability predictions can be obtained for the network. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 50: 574–591, 2003     

一种面向复杂系统的模糊可靠性分配方法

针对系统研制初期的不确定的约束条件与设计目标 ,进行了复杂系统模糊可靠性分配建模 ;结合遗传算法理论 ,考虑了一般系统的求解 ;实例分析验证了所提出方法的性能和可行性 .     

蒸汽动力装置分布式控制系统可靠性设计准则

讨论了为保证蒸汽动力装置分布式控制系统的可靠性所采取的一般技术 ,详细分析了提高蒸汽动力装置分布式控制系统可靠性的一般设计准则 ,包括系统设计的一般要求、计算机的选型、元器件的选择与使用以及抗干扰措施     

Two‐stage component test plans for testing the reliability of a series system

A system reliability is often evaluated by individual tests of components that constitute the system. These component test plans have advantages over complete system based tests in terms of time and cost. In this paper, we consider the series system with n components, where the lifetime of the i‐th component follows exponential distribution with parameter λ_i. Assuming test costs for the components are different, we develop an efficient algorithm to design a two‐stage component test plan that satisfies the usual probability requirements on the system reliability and in addition minimizes the maximum expected cost. For the case of prior information in the form of upper bounds on λ_i's, we use the genetic algorithm to solve the associated optimization problems which are otherwise difficult to solve using mathematical programming techniques. The two‐stage component test plans are cost effective compared to single‐stage plans developed by Rajgopal and Mazumdar. We demonstrate through several numerical examples that our approach has the potential to reduce the overall testing costs significantly. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 49: 95–116, 2002; DOI 10.1002/nav.1051     

任务分配方式优化问题研究

从军事指挥与管理工作的实际需求出发,利用概率论和军事运筹学理论,描述了统一、自主、混合等任务分配方式的概念、特点及其相互关系,论述了任务分配方式定量分析的基本方法、主要依据和基本指标,建立了完成任务效果的评估模型,在对多种任务分配方式进行定量比较的基础上,揭示了任务分配过程中具有普遍意义的、潜在的实用规则。     

一种基于知识的作战计划系统设计

作战计划系统是复杂的问题求解系统,在军事领域的各个方面发挥着重要的作用。介绍了当前一些主要的作战计划辅助生成系统及其特点,分析比较和归纳整理了当前军用计划系统所采用的一些常见规划技术和优缺点,重点分析了作战计划系统中的智能规划技术。在此基础上,提出了一种基于知识的作战计划辅助生成系统的开发设想,构建了系统知识库,系统采用层级任务网络规划技术,给出了这种规划技术的理论框架和算法过程,并且把这种技术与多主体规划技术相结合,辅助实现军事作战任务的逐层分解与规划优化,进而生成完整的行动序列,较好地解决了作战计划辅助生成问题。     

基于传递闭包的任务时序依赖关系建模方法

建立正确、有效的任务模型是正确引导出信息系统需求的关键步骤。文中针对任务间时序依赖关系,给出与任务建模相关的若干形式定义和命题,帮助分析人员判断任务间的并发和死锁。给出任务间时序依赖关系建模的详细步骤,并根据时序依赖关系的传递性质,给出一种任务关系图上的传递闭包方法,可以帮助分析人员直观地判断任务间时序依赖关系的问题和错误,科学、合理地标记各个任务的时序等级属性,帮助建模人员从全局上明确各个任务在执行时所处的相对位置,以及在每个阶段需要同时展开哪些任务。