Optimal solutions for the economic lot-sizing problem with multiple suppliers and cost structures

This paper considers a multi-supplier economic lot-sizing problem in which the retailer replenishes his inventory from several suppliers. Each supplier is characterized by one of three types of order cost structures: incremental quantity discount cost structure, multiple set-ups cost structure and all-unit quantity discount cost structure. The problem is challenging due to the mix of different cost structures. For all cases of the problem where each supplier is characterized by one of the first two cost structures, some optimality properties are proposed and optimal algorithms based on dynamic programming are designed. For the case where all suppliers are characterized by all-unit quantity discount cost structures, it is hard to design a polynomial time algorithm by the analyzed optimal properties. However, it is proved that one of its special cases can be solved in polynomial time.     

Technological Anisotropy of Artificial Stone and Practical Use of This Phenomenon

The technology of building stones from concrete and lime-sand mixes includes the process of unidirectional pressure molding. As stated at the Laboratory of Concrete Mechanics of Riga Technical University, this leads to anisotropy of mechanical properties of the material obtained, e.g., the acoustic anisotropy, found by measuring the velocity of ultrasonic pulse waves, is about 1.1-1.25. This is due to a large number of microdefects appearing in the horizontal planes after very quick unloading of the raw mix compacted in the mould. This harmful phenomenon has found practical use in elaborating a new and simple splitting technology for production of more lightweight facing tiles. These new tiles are essentially lower in cost than the analogous traditional materials - the split facing brick or sedimentary natural stone.     

Subject mix and productivity in Portuguese universities

Recent changes in higher education, especially associated with its massification, have led to calls for more accountability and to an increasing need to evaluate universities’ performance. However, comparing universities with different subject mixes poses some significant problems. In this article, a linear mixed-effect model methodology allowing for random effects at university level is used to measure the productivity of Portuguese public universities, taking into account their subject composition, for a period of five years (1997–2001). The results show that subject mix is an important factor in explaining the variability in productivity between universities. However, even taking account of subject mix, a lot of inefficiency is found in the system, and a significant variability in productivity among universities exists.     

Creep and long-time strength of tubular specimens of asbopolyethylene

Results are presented of an experimental investigation into the mechanical properties of asbopolyethylene obtained by adding 25 parts by weight of asbestos to pure low-density polyethylene to improve strength and stiffness characteristics. Test data on the creep and static strength of tubular specimens of asbopolyethylene at room temperature in uniaxial tension are given. The long-time strength of asbopolyethylene was determined at 20°, 50°, 80° and 100° C. To estimate the effect of adding asbestos to the polyethylene the mechanical characteristics of pure polyethylene and asbopolyethylene are compared.Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 1, No. 5, pp. 51–57, 1965     

Modeling of fiber-reinforced PMMA at different scales

This paper deals with the modeling of fiber-reinforced PMMA. Focus is on the macroscopic mechanical response with emphasis on the fracture properties such as the ultimate strength and the fracture energy. In order to capture the macroscopic mechanical response of PMMA, a finite element formulation is presented. While the elastic response of the fibres and that of the surrounding matrix are modelled in standard manner, i.e., by standard bulk material models, the relevant failure modes such as cracking of the fibres are accounted for by means of the so-called Strong Discontinuity Approach (SDA). Since the fibres are relatively small, their fracture mechanical properties crucially depend on their geometry, i.e., they show a pronounced size effect. Based on numerical analyses of fibres with different geometries, the aforementioned size effect is naturally incorporated into the formulation [1]. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Effect of combined extrusion parameters on mechanical properties of basalt fiber-reinforced plastics based on polypropylene

Basalt fibers are efficient reinforcing fillers for polypropylene because they increase both the mechanical and the tribotechnical properties of composites. Basalt fibers can compete with traditional fillers (glass and asbestos fibers) of polypropylene with respect to technological, economic, and toxic properties. The effect of technological parameters of producing polypropylene-based basalt fiber-reinforced plastics (BFRPs) by combined extrusion on their mechanical properties has been investigated. The extrusion temperature was found to be the main parameter determining the mechanical properties of the BFRPs. With temperature growth from 180 to 240°C, the residual length of the basalt fibers in the composite, as well as the adhesive strength of the polymer-fiber system, increased, while the composite defectiveness decreased. The tensile strength and elastic modulus increased from 35 to 42 MPa and 3.2 to 4.2 GPa, respectively. At the same time, the growth in composite solidity led to its higher brittleness. Thus, a higher temperature of extrusion allows us to produce materials which can be subjected to tensile and bending loads, while the materials produced at a lower temperature of extrusion are impact stable. The effect of the gap size between the extruder body and moving disks on the mechanical properties of the BFRPs is less significant than that of temperature. An increase of the gap size from 2 to 8 mm improves the impregnation quality of the fibers, but the extruder productivity diminishes. The possibility of controling the properties of reinforced polypropylene by varying the technological parameters of combined extrusion is shown. The polypropylene-based BFRPs produced by the proposed method surpass the properties of glass and asbestos fiber-reinforced plastics.Submitted to the 10th International Conference on Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 33, No. 6, pp. 845–850, November–December, 1997.     

State of stress and strain of a multilayered composite flexible pipe reinforced by helical carcass

Conclusion The model of a composite flexible pipe reinforced by a helical carcass, suggested in the present article, makes it possible to reduce the problem of calculating its strength and rigidity to the calculation of a multilayered anisotropic shell. It was established that when the flexible pipe is exposed to internal pressure and axial load, two states of equilibrium in regard to untwisting of the pipe are possible, and they are attained with different combinations of the winding angles of the reinforcing elements in the longitudinally bearing layers. The characteristics of strength and rigidity of a flexible pipe depend in different ways on the winding angles of the reinforcing elements. An analysis of these dependences makes it possible to choose rational winding angles in combination with the specified requirements that the parameters of strength and rigidity of the newly devised pipes have to satisfy.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, No. 6, pp. 1061–1067, November–December, 1987.     

Wave propagation analysis in buried pipe conveying fluid

A study of wave propagation in buried pipe conveying fluid is presented in the paper. The Flüggle shell model is adopted for pipe and surrounding solid is modeled as elastic matrix by using Winkle model. Wave dispersion curves of a buried vacant pipe and a pipe conveying fluid are obtained numerically by considering coupling conditions. Results show that wave velocity exhibits sharp drop points in dispersion curves, and remains to an identical values before and after the points for both of vacant pipe and pipe conveying fluid. Effects of wall thickness, elastic matrix properties and fluid velocity are also discussed.     

Do efficiency scores depend on input mix? A statistical test and empirical illustration

In this paper we examine the possibility of using the standard Kruskal-Wallis (KW) rank test in order to evaluate whether the distribution of efficiency scores resulting from Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is independent of the input (or output) mix of the observations. Since the DEA frontier is estimated, many standard assumptions for evaluating the KW test statistic are violated. Therefore, we propose to explore its statistical properties by the use of simulation studies. The simulations are performed conditional on the observed input mixes. The method, unlike existing approaches in the literature, is also applicable when comparing distributions of efficiency scores in more than two groups and does not rely on bootstrapping of, or questionable distributional assumptions about, the efficiency scores. The approach is illustrated using an empirical case of demolition projects. Since the assumption of mix independence is rejected the implication is that it, for example, is impossible to determine whether machine intensive project are more or less efficient than labor intensive projects.     

A probabilistic programming model for blending aggregates

The paper introduces the formulation of a probabilistic programming model to find the optimum mix proportion of aggregates to meet the specific grading requirement in order to minimize the cost which consists of the material cost and the expected penalty cost. The model is probabilistic since the gradation, which is the major parameter, is a random variable. A linear programming model is first formulated. Using the LP solution as initial value, a direct search technique is then employed to solve the problem. The model is expected to be applicable to any problem of aggregates blending. In this paper, however, the mixing aggregates of an asphalt mixing plant is exemplified to test the applicability of the model.     

Combined Cost and Linear Programming Models of Industrial Complexes

Many industrial complexes are chains of unit processes, the end-product of one process being the raw material for another; often the same process can also make several end-products sequentially and, furthermore, intermediate products can be bought in or sold. In managing these "multi-processes", cost accountants often use input/output models to measure historic internal costs while simultaneously, planners calculate the most profitable future mix of end-products from linear programming (LP) models. A general combined cost/LP model is proposed here, usable either for costing purposes or for LP planning. Its cost version can include standard cost techniques; when used with the planning version, it leads to the concept of "super-standard" costs for the most profitable way of running the multiprocess. The combined model is thus a basic part of an overall management information and control system.     

Subgradient optimization applied to a discrete nonlinear problem in engineering design

The particular application considered here is the design of relief-header systems, involving compressible fluid flow through tree-networks. The flowrates are specified, and the design problem involves the choice of discrete pipe sizes to minimize total cost while satisfying pressure-drop constraints, which are highly nonlinear. The problem is solved in two stages. Firstly the problem of obtaining the optimal set of continuous pipe sizes is addressed; it turns out that a dual formulation provides and extremely rapid solution. Next, a subgradient optimization procedure is used on the dual in order to solve for the discrete pipe sizes. Networks of up to 78 paths and 205 sections, each involving 50 discrete pipe sizes, have been solved.     

多目标应急物流中心选址的鲁棒优化模型

针对重大突发事件的应急物资救援,研究了应急物流中心的选址及应急物资的调运问题。利用离散的情景集合描述受灾点应急物资需求的不确定性以及应急物资运输成本和运输时间的不确定性,同时考虑应急救援成本和应急救援时间两个目标,建立了多目标应急物流中心选址的确定型模型和鲁棒优化模型。为将多目标问题转化为单目标问题,利用成本单目标和时间单目标的最优结果将多目标转化为相对值再加权处理,该方法既可消除多个目标之间的单位及数量级差异,还可以根据问题的数据变化进行动态调整。以提供应急物资救援服务的设施作为编码,设计了一种通用的混合蛙跳算法。为检验模型和算法的有效性,设计了一个多情景的算例,结果表明两个模型和算法具备良好的可行性和有效性,且鲁棒优化模型能较好地保持对各种不确定性的抗干扰能力;最后,讨论分析了成本偏好权重和鲁棒约束系数的影响,结果表明可根据成本偏好权重的取值范围来区分各种应急救援阶段,体现不同救援阶段的救援要求及特征,并给出了成本偏好权重和鲁棒约束系数的取值建议。     

Repairing force for deformed casing shaping with spinning casing swage and damage behaviour of cement sheath

In oil and gas fields, the repairing force (bit weight) is generally determined by experience when the deformed casing is repaired using the spinning casing swage. However, unreasonable repairing force easily damages the cement sheath around the deformed casing and causes pipe sticking, which results in failure of the wellbore integrity. Hence, based on the Hertz contact theory, the present study established a mechanical model to calculate the repairing force required to repair the deformed casing without a cement sheath by spinning casing swage, and the reshaping force was determined by combining the structural features of the spinning casing swage with the method of mechanics and kinetics analysis regarding axial loading and circumferential deformation of the deformed casing. Finally, a mechanical model was presented that could calculate the repairing force of the deformation casing with cement sheath using the inversion method. Repairing experiments involving three types of deformed casings (casing without cement sheath, casing with undamaged cement sheath and casing with damaged cement sheath) were performed, from which the accuracy and reliability of the mechanical model was validated. The damage behaviour of the cement sheath after casing repair was investigated based on the experimental results and the damage mechanism was analysed based on Saint-Venant's deformation compatibility principle. Analysis results showed that three types of damage, including micro-annulus, transverse fracture and longitudinal fracture, were caused by high contact pressure between the steel ball on the spinning casing swage and the internal wall of the deformed casing and pressure fluctuation during repairing. The research results provide important guidance and decision making for practical repairing measures.     

Carbon Fibre Prepregs: Simulation of a Thermo-Mechanical-Chemical Coupled Problem

In automotive industry research is done to replace high strength steel by combinations of steel and carbon-fibre prepregs (pre-impregnated fibres). It is planned to form both steel and uncured prepregs in one step followed by the curing process under pressure in the forming die. The ability to simulate the mechanical behaviour during forming and curing would allow more economical processes. The simulation of prepregs must regard highly anisotropic, viscoelastic and thermal- chemical properties. For this the model is split into an anisotropic elastic part, which represents the fibre fraction and an isotropic, viscoelastic part, representing the matrix. This part also contains curing, causing a dependency on time and temperature. During deep-drawing large deformations are occurring, so a large strain model regarding anisotropy, viscoelasticity and curing has been developed. Also experiments were made to validate this model. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Evaluating the strategic behavior of cement producers: An equilibrium problem with equilibrium constraints

This paper investigates the equilibria reached by a number of strategic producers in the cement sector through a technological representation of the market. We present a bilevel model for each producer that characterizes its profit maximizing behavior. In the bilevel model, the upper-level problem of each producer is constrained by a lower-level market clearing problem representing cement trading and whose objective function corresponds to social welfare. Replacing the lower level problem by its optimality condition yields a Mathematical Program with Equilibrium Constraints (MPEC). Then, all strategic producers are jointly considered. Representing their interaction requires solving jointly the interrelated MPECs of all producers, which results in an Equilibrium Problem with Equilibrium Constraints (EPEC).A parametric analysis concerning cost, capacity and demand fluctuations has been conducted. Our analysis shows that the European cement sector is mature and has lost its competitiveness; African cement market can assume a prominent role in international markets in the coming future if investments in new and efficient capacity are carried out. Finally, the Far East will remain the reference exporter of cement at worldwide level.     

原丝性能对碳纤维强度影响的灰色关联分析

运用灰色系统方法，对原丝性能与碳纤维强度之间的关系进行了灰色关联分析。结果表明，原丝弹性与原丝强度对碳纤维强度影响较大，而原丝纤度与原丝伸度对碳纤维强度影响较小。     

供应链物流合作伙伴选择的多层次灰色评价方法

为了获得高效的供应链体系，物流业务外包已成为制造企业增加竞争力最重要和最有效的战略手段之一。本文研究了物流外包中的物流合作伙伴选择问题。基于制造商与物流供应商长期合作的伙伴关系，从成本、服务质量、合作稳定性以及综合实力四个方面设计了物流合作伙伴评价指标体系。针对主观的评价指标体系，建立了灰色评价与层次分析法相结合的多层次灰色评价模型，并进行了算例研究。     

水泥强度的模糊预测模型研究

本文根据水泥强度的模糊性 ,运用模糊模式识别理论 ,建立了预测水泥强度的模糊贴近度模型 .通过对上海水泥厂提供的实测数据进行模糊计算 ,得到了令人满意的结果 ,为水泥强度的快速预测提供了一种新方法 ,有较好的实用价值 .