A bilevel fixed charge location model for facilities under imminent attack

We investigate a bilevel fixed charge facility location problem for a system planner (the defender) who has to provide public service to customers. The defender cannot dictate customer-facility assignments since the customers pick their facility of choice according to its proximity. Thus, each facility must have sufficient capacity installed to accommodate all customers for whom it is the closest one. Facilities can be opened either in the protected or unprotected mode. Protection immunizes against an attacker who is capable of destroying at most r unprotected facilities in the worst-case scenario. Partial protection or interdiction is not possible. The defender selects facility sites from m candidate locations which have different costs. The attacker is assumed to know the unprotected facilities with certainty. He makes his interdiction plan so as to maximize the total post-attack cost incurred by the defender. If a facility has been interdicted, its customers are reallocated to the closest available facilities making capacity expansion necessary. The problem is formulated as a static Stackelberg game between the defender (leader) and the attacker (follower). Two solution methods are proposed. The first is a tabu search heuristic where a hash function calculates and records the hash values of all visited solutions for the purpose of avoiding cycling. The second is a sequential method in which the location and protection decisions are separated. Both methods are tested on 60 randomly generated instances in which m ranges from 10 to 30, and r varies between 1 and 3. The solutions are further validated by means of an exhaustive search algorithm. Test results show that the defender's facility opening plan is sensitive to the protection and distance costs.     

Discrete approximation heuristics for the capacitated continuous location–allocation problem with probabilistic customer locations

The capacitated continuous location–allocation problem, also called capacitated multisource Weber problem (CMWP), is concerned with locating m facilities in the Euclidean plane, and allocating their capacity to n customers at minimum total cost. The deterministic version of the problem, which assumes that customer locations and demands are known with certainty, is a nonconvex optimization problem. In this work, we focus on a probabilistic extension referred to as the probabilistic CMWP (PCMWP), and consider the situation in which customer locations are randomly distributed according to a bivariate probability distribution. We first formulate the discrete approximation of the problem as a mixed-integer linear programming model in which facilities can be located on a set of candidate points. Then we present three heuristics to solve the problem. Since optimal solutions cannot be found, we assess the performance of the heuristics using the results obtained by an alternate location–allocation heuristic that is originally developed for the deterministic version of the problem and tailored by us for the PCMWP. The new heuristics depend on the evaluation of the expected distances between facilities and customers, which is possible only for a few number of distance function and probability distribution combinations. We therefore propose approximation methods which make the heuristics applicable for any distance function and probability distribution of customer coordinates.     

Compaction behaviour of agglomerated alumina powders

The effects of agglomerate properties, such as the binder type, binder content, moisture level, and agglomerate size, on a model compaction process was investigated by using green density-pressure interrelationships for a range of agglomerated alumina powders. The model compaction process involved single ended nominal uniaxial stress transmission in a cylindrical die. The influences of the sample aspect ratio, die wall lubrication, and compaction rate were also investigated. Two types of water soluble polymeric agents, a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), were used. It was shown that certain agglomerate properties have a strong influence upon the compaction behaviour of these ceramic powders. The extent of the compaction is enhanced by using agglomerates with a low agglomerate yield point. In the PVA system, the agglomerate yield points decreased with increasing moisture content. The compaction behaviour of the agglomerates showed a rate dependency, that is, the compaction is retarded with increased pressing rate. The green densities of the compacts prepared in the unlubricated die were lower than those of the compacts prepared in the lubricated die due to the higher wall frictional forces operating in the unlubricated die.     

Linear Solution for Hydraulic Analysis of Tapered Microirrigation Laterals

A simplified analytical solution that takes into account the effect of the emitter discharge exponent on the hydraulic computations of tapered microirrigation laterals, is presented. The hydraulic analysis is evaluated based on the spatially variable discharge function approach. A simple power equation was used to express distribution of the variable outflow delivered from the each emitter along the lateral. An analytical solution is developed for the case of a linear relationship between the emitter discharge and pressure head, namely, the emitter discharge exponent equals to unique, y = 1.0. In this procedure, the analytical derivations can be applied for uphill, downhill, and zero slope conditions. Results are comparable to those obtained from the literature.     

Performance and combustion characteristics of alcohol–gasoline blends at wide-open throttle

This study discusses the performance and exhaust emissions of a vehicle fueled with low content alcohol (ethanol and methanol) blends and pure gasoline. The vehicle tests were performed at wide-open throttle and at vehicle speeds of 40 km h⁻¹, 60 km h⁻¹, 80 km h⁻¹ and 100 km h⁻¹ by using an eddy current chassis dynamometer. The test results obtained with the use of alcohol-gasoline blends (5 and 10 percent alcohol by volume) were compared to pure gasoline test results. The test results indicated that when the vehicle was fueled with alcohol-gasoline blends, the peak wheel power and fuel consumption slightly increased. And also, in general, alcohol-gasoline blends provided higher combustion efficiency compared to pure gasoline use. In exhaust emission results, a stable trend was not seen, especially for CO emission. But, on average, alcohol-gasoline blends exhibited decreasing HC emissions. In 100 km h⁻¹ vehicle speed test, the alcohol-gasoline blends provided lower vehicle performance and lower NO_x emission values compared to pure gasoline. At all vehicle speeds, minimum CO₂ emission was obtained when 5% methanol was added in gasoline. The low content alcohol blends did not reveal any starting problem, or irregular operation on the engine.     

An Integrated Disaster Preparedness Model for Retrofitting and Relief Item Transportation

Networks and Spatial Economics - In this study, a two-stage stochastic integer programming model is developed with a centralized planning perspective to simultaneously address mitigation and...     

Oxidation,electrical and mechanical properties of Crofer®22 solid oxide fuel cell metallic interconnects manufactured through powder metallurgy

This study aimed to investigate oxidation, electrical and mechanical properties of solid oxide fuel cell interconnects. To this goal, two different Crofer^®22 interconnects samples were produced via different manufacturing routes (machining from bulk material, and powder metallurgy approach). The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffractions. Four-probe area specific resistance (ASR), bonding strength, leakage tests were also performed. The results indicated that interconnect sample manufactured through powder metallurgy approach can be a reliable alternative to the one manufactured from commercially available Crofer^®22 alloy in bulk form.     

Contact resistance characteristics of coated metallic bipolar plates for PEM fuel cells – investigations on the effect of manufacturing

The main purpose of this study is to understand the interfacial contact resistance (ICR) characteristics of coated metallic bipolar plates (BPP) manufactured through stamping and hydroforming. To this goal, 51 μm thick SS316L stainless steel sheet blanks were formed into BPPs using two forming techniques (stamping and hydroforming); then these formed plates were coated with three different PVD coatings (CrN, TiN, ZrN) at three different coating thicknesses (0.1, 0.5 and 1 μm). Contact resistance of the formed and coated BPP samples were measured before and after they were exposed to the proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) operating conditions (i.e., corrosive environment). ICR tests indicated that CrN coating increased the contact resistance of the samples, unexpectedly. TiN samples showed the best performance in terms of low ICR; however, their ICR dramatically increased after short-term exposure to corrosion. ZrN coating, as well, improved conductivity of the SS316L BPP samples and demonstrated similar ICR performance before and after exposure to corrosion.     

结构健康监测和可靠性评估

对美国最大跨度桁架桥中的主要桁架构件以及整个结构系统的可靠性进行评估。根据构件和系统的可靠性指标,可以采用随机方法评估大跨桥的安全水平。然而,大多数旧的大跨桥是基于允许应力设计的,其可靠性不可能被保证。本研究的可靠性分析基于对恒荷载、活荷载和风载分布的评估。通过收集大量的输入和响应数据,对大桥进行长期结构健康监测。根据外部荷载影响的模式和大小,长期监测数据清楚揭示了不同结构的性能。案例显示,采用传统的分析方法难以确定由于温度引起的结构响应。为探讨温度对结构的影响以及在可靠性评估中考虑长期监测数据的作用,也对温度引起的响应进行分析。研究显示：温度导致的响应对整个系统的可靠性具有明显的影响。