An analysis of the exponential stability of linear stochastic neutral delay systems

This paper is concerned with the analysis of the mean square exponential stability and the almost sure exponential stability of linear stochastic neutral delay systems. A general stability result on the mean square and almost sure exponential stability of such systems is established. Based on this stability result, the delay partitioning technique is adopted to obtain a delay‐dependent stability condition in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). In obtaining these LMIs, some basic rules of the Ito calculus are also utilized to introduce slack matrices so as to further reduce conservatism. Some numerical examples borrowed from the literature are used to show that, as the number of the partitioning intervals increases, the allowable delay determined by the proposed LMI condition approaches h_max, the maximal allowable delay for the stability of the considered system, indicating the effectiveness of the proposed stability analysis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exponential stability of stochastic singular delay systems with general Markovian switchings

In recent years, Markovian jump systems have received much attention. However, there are very few results on the stability of stochastic singular systems with Markovian switching. In this paper, the discussed system is the stochastic singular delay system with general transition rate matrix in terms of uncertain and partially unknown transition rate matrix. The aim is to answer the question whether there are conditions guaranteeing the underlying system having a unique solution and being exponentially admissible simultaneously. The proposed results show that all the features of the underlying system such as time delay, diffusion, and general Markovian switchings play important roles in the system analysis of exponential admissibility. A numerical example is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Probability‐weighted nonlinear stochastic optimal control strategy of quasi‐integrable Hamiltonian systems with uncertain parameters

The nonlinear stochastic optimal control problem of quasi‐integrable Hamiltonian systems with uncertain parameters is investigated. The uncertain parameters are described by using a random vector with λ probability density function. First, the partially averaged Itô stochastic differential equations are derived by using the stochastic averaging method for quasi‐integrable Hamiltonian systems. Then, the dynamical programming equation is established based on stochastic dynamical programming principle. By minimizing the dynamical programming equation with respect to control forces, the optimal control forces can be derived, which are functions of the uncertain parameters. The final optimal control forces are then determined by probability‐weighted average of the obtained control forces with the probability density of the uncertain parameters as weighting function. The mean control effectiveness and mean control efficiency are used to evaluate the proposed control strategy. The robustness of the proposed control is measured by using the ratios of the variation coefficients of mean control effectiveness and mean control efficiency to the variation coefficients of uncertain parameters. Finally, two examples are given to illustrate the proposed control strategy and its effectiveness and robustness. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Asymptotic stability in probability and stabilization for a class of discrete‐time stochastic systems

This paper investigates asymptotic stability in probability and stabilization designs of discrete‐time stochastic systems with state‐dependent noise perturbations. Our work begins with a lemma on a special discrete‐time stochastic system for which almost all of its sample paths starting from a nonzero initial value will never reach the origin subsequently. This motivates us to deal with the asymptotic stability in probability of discrete‐time stochastic systems. A stochastic Lyapunov theorem on asymptotic stability in probability is proved by means of the convergence theorem of supermartingale. An example is given to show the difference between asymptotic stability in probability and almost surely asymptotic stability. Based on the stochastic Lyapunov theorem, the problem of asymptotic stabilization for discrete‐time stochastic control systems is considered. Some sufficient conditions are proposed and applied for constructing asymptotically stable feedback controllers. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive output feedback tracking control of stochastic nonlinear systems with dynamic uncertainties

In this paper, adaptive output feedback tracking control is developed for a class of stochastic nonlinear systems with dynamic uncertainties and unmeasured states. Neural networks are used to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions. K‐filters are designed to estimate the unmeasured states. An available dynamic signal is introduced to dominate the unmodeled dynamics. By combining dynamic surface control technique with backstepping, the condition in which the approximation error is assumed to be bounded is avoided. Using It ô formula and Chebyshev's inequality, it is shown that all signals in the closed‐loop system are bounded in probability, and the error signals are semi‐globally uniformly ultimately bounded in mean square or the sense of four‐moment. Simulation results are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Approximate dynamic programming via iterated Bellman inequalities

In this paper, we introduce new methods for finding functions that lower bound the value function of a stochastic control problem, using an iterated form of the Bellman inequality. Our method is based on solving linear or semidefinite programs, and produces both a bound on the optimal objective, as well as a suboptimal policy that appears to works very well. These results extend and improve bounds obtained in a previous paper using a single Bellman inequality condition. We describe the methods in a general setting and show how they can be applied in specific cases including the finite state case, constrained linear quadratic control, switched affine control, and multi‐period portfolio investment. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于随机动力学的边坡安全坡角估值方法探讨

对于广泛分布大量裂隙的岩质边坡,有些并无明显的软弱面,裂隙的分布方位对边坡稳定性就起着控制作用,但在实际工作中,往往存在安全坡角取值不准确的问题。传统方法是找到边坡内部裂隙的优势分组,应用赤平投影方法估计边坡安全坡角。随机动力学稳定性分析认为,最危险滑动面的滑动方向为边坡的倾向方向,岩壁上测量出的每一条裂隙都是随机的,对边坡的失稳都会造成一定的影响,裂隙可形成单一滑动面破坏或裂隙之间可随机组合形成楔形体进而对边坡造成破坏。以大连港东换流站的开挖边坡为实例,采用随机动力学方法与赤平投影分析相结合进行对比分析,给出合理的安全坡角。     

Optimal inventory control in a multi-period newsvendor problem with non-stationary demand

The optimal control of inventory in supply chains plays a key role in the competiveness of a corporation. The inventory cost can account for half of company’s logistics cost. The classical inventory models, e.g., newsvendor and EOQ models, assume either a single or infinite planning periods. However, these models may not be applied to perishable products which usually have a certain shelf life. To optimize the total logistic cost for perishable products, this paper presents a multi-period newsvendor model, and the problem is formulated as a multi-stage stochastic programming model with integer recourse decisions. We extend the progressive hedging method to solve the model efficiently. A numerical example and its sensitivity analysis are demonstrated.     

Optimal Control of Switching Times in Switched Stochastic Systems

In this paper, we solve an optimal control problem for switched stochastic systems using calculus of variations, where the objective is to minimize a cost functional defined on the state and the switching times are the sole control variables. In particular, we focus on the problem in which a pre‐specified sequence of active subsystems is given. For one switching time case, the derivative of the cost functional with respect to the switching time is derived, which has an especially simple form and can be directly used in gradient descent algorithms to locate the optimal switching instant. Then, we propose an approach to deal with the problem with multi‐switching times case. Finally, two numerical examples are given, highlighting the viability and advantages of the proposed methodology.     

On the Controllability of Nonlocal Second‐Order Impulsive Neutral Stochastic Integro‐Differential Equations with Infinite Delay

In this paper, we investigate the controllability for a class of nonlocal second‐order impulsive neutral stochastic integro‐differential equations with infinite delay in Hilbert spaces. More precisely, a set of sufficient conditions for the controllability results of nonlocal second‐order impulsive neutral stochastic integro‐differential equations with infinite delay are derived by means of the Banach fixed point theorem combined with theories of a strongly continuous cosine family of bounded linear operators. As an application, an example is provided to illustrate the obtained theory.