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• A general repair-replacement model for series systems is proposed. • The explicit expression of the long-run average cost rate is derived. • Some analytical results on the optimal replacement policy are obtained. • An algorithm is devised to search the optimal policy much more efficiently. • A case study is provided to illustrate the proposed model and approach. In this paper, a general repair-replacement model for a k -component series system is proposed. Components of the system may break down randomly and can be repaired immediately. Due to the imperfect repair, the successive operating times decrease stochastically while the consecutive repair times increase stochastically. A joint replacement policy is adopted based on the failure number of each component. The explicit expression of the long-run average cost rate is derived. Furthermore, we investigate the optimal policies of series system and single-component system respectively, the explicit relationship between them is determined in the form of a theorem for the first time. It shows that the optimal replacement policy of a component in a series system is not less than that when it forms a single-component system, and the former is non-decreasing with the number of components. Some other analytical results are also obtained. Based on these useful results, an efficient algorithm is devised to search the optimal joint policy which leads to an elegant, mathematical appealing analysis that is easy to use in practice. Finally, illustrative examples are provided to demonstrate the proposed model and the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel metaheuristic algorithm called queuing search (QS), which is inspired from human activities in queuing. Some common phenomena are considered in QS: (1) customers actively follow the queue that provides fast service; (2) each customer service is mainly affected by the staff or customer itself; and (3) a customer can be influenced by others during the service when the queue order is not strictly maintained. The performance of QS is tested on 30 bound-constrained benchmark functions scalable with 30 and 100 dimensions from CEC 2014, 5 standard and 4 challenging constrained engineering optimization problems. Meanwhile, comparisons are performed among the results of QS and some state-of-the-art or well-known metaheuristic algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Gong et al. (2010) and Xiao et al. (2010) have proposed the notion of bijective soft set and exclusive disjunctive soft set, respectively, which is a subtype of soft set. On the basis of their work, this paper extends these notions to fuzzy environments, and formulates the concept of bijective fuzzy soft set, which can deal with more uncertain problems. Moreover, this paper proposes two parameters reduction algorithms: one (Algorithm 1) is based on bijective fuzzy soft system, and the other (Algorithm 2) takes weight of an element into consideration. Since the threshold plays an important role in these algorithms, we proposed an algorithm (Algorithm 3) to decide the optimal value of threshold specially. Afterwards, an example analysis of the two parameters reduction algorithms is given and the result shows that the two algorithms lead to the same parameters reduction of a bijective fuzzy soft system. Since Algorithm 2 considers the detail weights of elements, thus it can be used in more uncertain problems, such as time series analysis problems, than Algorithm 1. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we study the numerical behavior of the semismooth and smoothing Newton methods for solving Pareto eigenvalue problem of the formwhere (A, B) is a pair of possibly asymmetric matrices of order n. Such an eigenvalue problem arises in mechanics and in other areas of applied mathematics. By using the (smoothing) Fischer-Burmeister NCP function and the normalization condition e T x =1, the Pareto eigenvalue problem can be converted into a equivalent semismooth (or smoothing) system of equations, where e =(1,…,1) T . Then a semismooth (or smoothing) Newton algorithm is designed to solve such a semismooth (or smoothing) system of equations. Some numerical results are reported in the paper, which indicates that the proposed algorithms are very effective. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, based on the homotopy analysis method (HAM), a powerful algorithm is developed for the solution of nonlinear ordinary differential equations of fractional order. The proposed algorithm presents the procedure of constructing the set of base functions and gives the high-order deformation equation in a simple form. Different from all other analytic methods, it provides us with a simple way to adjust and control the convergence region of solution series by introducing an auxiliary parameter . The analysis is accompanied by numerical examples. The algorithm described in this paper is expected to be further employed to solve similar nonlinear problems in fractional calculus. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, an approach to achieve fault diagnosis and Fault Tolerant Control in a typical bottle-filling plant using event based techniques is discussed. For this purpose, the plant is modeled using Hybrid Petri nets which enable study and analysis with regard to the working of the plant. Once effective modeling is done based on two different case studies considered, new algorithms are proposed to achieve fault diagnosis and Fault Tolerant Control on the models developed. Finally, performance measures with regard to the models proposed are evaluated to check the correctness of the models developed. Both analytical and numerical results are obtained which are highly useful to understand plant behavior. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we consider the minimum flow problem on network flows in which the lower arc capacities vary with time. We will show that this problem for set {0,1,…, T} of time points can be solved by at most n minimum flow computations, by combining of preflow-pull algorithm and reoptimization techniques (no matter how many values of T are given). Running time of the presented algorithm is O(n 2 m). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, an active set limited BFGS algorithm is proposed for bound constrained optimization. The global convergence will be established under some suitable conditions. Numerical results show that the given method is effective. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to present a new graphical approach to the shape design of the active magnetic bearing (AMB) stator. The AMB is a tool to levitate the rotor without contact. The standard design method uses a computer-aided design (CAD) software in the modeling process. Therefore the designed AMB shape consists of graphical primitives like lines and arcs with fixed properties. For the advanced interdisciplinary analysis of the AMB construction the shape generation and modifications ought to be done automatically. The proposed method is based on mathematical analysis and representation of the AMB stator by curves. Second and third order Bézier curves given in polynomial and rational form are compared to the circle and arc based arcs. The fitting quality is considered for the selection of the appropriate arc representation. The obtained shapes are ready to be used in the magnetic field analysis and optimization procedures to find an optimal form of the AMB construction. The author’s experience in modeling and vector graphics was a motivation to look at the AMB construction from mathematical and programming point of view. The AMB components are modeled with parametric curves under constraints defined by the AMB static and dynamic properties. Such a described 2D or 3D model can be generated automatically in a programming way for a wide range of AMB configurations in further research. Selected configurations are presented to show features of the proposed method and realized algorithm. The selected features of the proposed solution as well as feedback from industry are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper considers a new class of network flows, called dynamic generative network flows in which, the flow commodity is dynamically generated at a source node and dynamically consumed at a sink node and the arc-flow bounds are time dependent. Then the maximum dynamic flow problem in such networks for a pre-specified time horizon T is defined and mathematically formulated in both arc flow and path flow presentations. By exploiting the special structure of the problem, an efficient algorithm is developed to solve the general form of the dynamic problem as a minimum cost static flow problem. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper proposes a new and simplified method for the calibration of cutting force coefficients and cutter runout parameters for cylindrical end milling using the instantaneous cutting forces measured instead of average ones. The calibration procedure is derived for a mechanistic cutting force model in which the cutting force coefficients are expressed as the power functions of instantaneous uncut chip thickness (IUCT). The derivations are firstly performed by establishing mathematical relationships between instantaneous cutting forces and IUCT. Then, nonlinear algorithms are proposed to solve the established nonlinear contradiction equations. The typical features of this new calibration method lie in twofold. On the one hand, all derivations are directly based on the tangential, radial and axial cutting force components transformed from the forces which are measured in the workpiece Cartesian coordinate system. This transformation makes the calibration procedure very simple and efficient. On the other hand, only a single cutting test is needed to be performed for calibrating the cutting force coefficients that are valid over a wide range of cutting conditions. The effectiveness of the proposed method in developing cutting force model is demonstrated experimentally with a series of verification cutting tests. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we consider two single-machine rescheduling problems with linear deteriorating jobs under disruption. By a deteriorating jobs, we mean that the actual processing time of the job is an increasing function of its starting time. The two problems correspond to two different increasing linear function. Rescheduling means a set of original jobs has already been scheduled to minimize some classical objective, then a new set of jobs arrives and creates a disruption. We consider the rescheduling problem to minimize the total completion time under a limit of the disruption from the original scheduling. For each problem, we consider two versions. For each version, the polynomial algorithms are proposed, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The palmprint is one of the most reliable physiological characteristics that can be used to distinguish between individuals. In this paper, we propose a palmprint recognition method based on multifractal spectrum technology using statistical moment approaches. The multifractal spectrum of palmprint is calculated by developing an algorithm for extracting palmprint characteristics. The three parameters proposed as the distinguishing palmprint features include the width spread and maximum of multifractal spectrum, and a parameter which describes the asymmetry of the spectrum curve. The identification process can be divided into the following main steps: (1) capturing palmprint image, extracting and normalizing the subimages; (2) defining a coordinate system and calculating partition function; (3) estimating multifractal spectrum; (4) extracting the three parameters and, finally, (5) the feature matching and palmprint identification. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Back analysis is commonly used in identifying geomechanical parameters based on the monitored displacements. Conventional back analysis method is not capable of recognizing non-linear relationship involving displacements and mechanical parameters effectively. The new intelligent displacement back analysis method proposed in this paper is the combination of support vector machine, particle swarm optimization, and numerical analysis techniques. The non-linear relationship is efficiently represented by support vector machine. Numerical analysis is used to create training and testing samples for recognition of SVMs. Then, a global optimum search on the obtained SVMs by particle swarm optimization can lead to the geomechanical parameters identification effectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a modification on the stair-shaped volume of fluid (VOF) advection algorithm called defined donating and accepting region (DDAR) scheme which shows the importance of the more accurate definition of donating and accepting region. The algorithm which is suitable for uniform Cartesian grids uses multi-dimensional method of cell boundary flux integration. The performance of the modified scheme presented here has been compared with the performance of a number of alternative schemes taking into account translation, rotation and shear advection tests. In some aspects, the DDAR scheme is shown to be more accurate than linear constant and flux limited schemes, and in some way comparable with the linear piecewise schemes (PLIC). Without using any geometrical information, DDAR scheme predicts flux correctly using information of cell volume fraction and its face velocities and consequently improves the performance the first order DDR schemes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Optimal algorithms for scheduling divisible load on heterogeneous system are considered in this paper. The platform model we use is general and realistic, in which the mode of communication is non-blocking message receiving, and processors and communication links may have different speeds and arbitrary start-up overheads. The objective is to minimize the processing time of the entire workload. The main contributions are: (1) closed-form expressions for the processing time and the fraction of workload for each processor are derived; (2) the influence of start-up overheads on the optimal processing time is analyzed; (3) for system of bounded number of processors and large workload, optimal sequence and algorithm for workload distribution are proposed. Moreover, some numerical examples are presented to illustrate the analysis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There are some restrictions in the estimation of location and strength problems in recent studies. One of the restrictions is that the problem is limited to the static sources and the single moving source. In other words, there is no method available to estimate the location and the strength of two moving sources presently. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a robust method to estimate the location and the strength of two moving heat sources. In this paper, a numerical algorithm is proposed to determine the problem sequentially. Special feature about this method is that no preselect functional form for the unknown sources is necessary and no sensitivity analysis is needed in the algorithm. Two examples are used to demonstrate the characteristics of the proposed method. From the results, they show that the proposed method is an accurate and efficient method to determine the location and the strength of two moving sources in the inverse heat conduction problem. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]