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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Minimization Of Collateral Damage In Airdrops And Airstrikes, Steven P. Dillenburger Sep 2012

Minimization Of Collateral Damage In Airdrops And Airstrikes, Steven P. Dillenburger

Theses and Dissertations

Collateral damage presents a significant risk during air drops and airstrikes, risking citizens' lives and property, straining the relationship between the United States Air Force and host nations. This dissertation presents a methodology to determine the optimal location for making supply airdrops in order to minimize collateral damage while maintaining a high likelihood of successful recovery. A series of non-linear optimization algorithms is presented along with their relative success in finding the optimal location in the airdrop problem. Additionally, we present a quick algorithm for accurately creating the Pareto frontier in the multi-objective airstrike problem. We demonstrate the effect of …


The Multiobjective Average Network Flow Problem: Formulations, Algorithms, Heuristics, And Complexity, Jeremy D. Jordan Sep 2012

The Multiobjective Average Network Flow Problem: Formulations, Algorithms, Heuristics, And Complexity, Jeremy D. Jordan

Theses and Dissertations

Integrating value focused thinking with the shortest path problem results in a unique formulation called the multiobjective average shortest path problem. We prove this is NP-complete for general graphs. For directed acyclic graphs, an efficient algorithm and even faster heuristic are proposed. While the worst case error of the heuristic is proven unbounded, its average performance on random graphs is within 3% of the optimal solution. Additionally, a special case of the more general biobjective average shortest path problem is given, allowing tradeoffs between decreases in arc set cardinality and increases in multiobjective value; the algorithm to solve the average …


The In-Transit Vigilant Covering Tour Problem Of Routing Unmanned Ground Vehicles, Huang Teng Tan Aug 2012

The In-Transit Vigilant Covering Tour Problem Of Routing Unmanned Ground Vehicles, Huang Teng Tan

Theses and Dissertations

The routing of unmanned ground vehicles for the surveillance and protection of key installations is modeled as a new variant of the Covering Tour Problem (CTP). The CTP structure provides both the routing and target sensing components of the installation protection problem. Our variant is called the in-transit Vigilant Covering Tour Problem (VCTP) and considers not only the vertex cover but also the additional edge coverage capability of the unmanned ground vehicle while sensing in-transit between vertices. The VCTP is formulated as a Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) with a dual set covering structure involving vertices and edges. An empirical study …


Rough-Cut Capacity Planning In Multimodal Freight Transportation Networks, Robert B. Hartlage Aug 2012

Rough-Cut Capacity Planning In Multimodal Freight Transportation Networks, Robert B. Hartlage

Theses and Dissertations

A main challenge in transporting cargo for United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) is in mode selection or integration. Demand for cargo is time sensitive and must be fulfilled by an established due date. Since these due dates are often inflexible, commercial carriers are used at an enormous expense, in order to fill the gap in organic transportation asset capacity. This dissertation develops a new methodology for transportation capacity assignment to routes based on the Resource Constrained Shortest Path Problem (RCSP). Routes can be single or multimodal depending on the characteristics of the network, delivery timeline, modal capacities, and costs. The …


A Quantitative Methodology For Vetting "Dark Network" Intelligence Sources For Social Network Analysis, James F. Morris Jun 2012

A Quantitative Methodology For Vetting "Dark Network" Intelligence Sources For Social Network Analysis, James F. Morris

Theses and Dissertations

Social network analysis (SNA) is used by the DoD to describe and analyze social networks, leading to recommendations for operational decisions. However, social network models are constructed from various information sources of indeterminate reliability. Inclusion of unreliable information can lead to incorrect models resulting in flawed analysis and decisions. This research develops a methodology to assist the analyst by quantitatively identifying and categorizing information sources so that determinations on including or excluding provided data can be made. This research pursued three main thrusts. It consolidated binary similarity measures to determine social network information sources' concordance and developed a methodology to …


Simulation Modeling And Analysis Of The Impact Of Individual Mobility Augmentee Loss At The Tanker Airlift Control Center, Megan A. Leiter Jun 2012

Simulation Modeling And Analysis Of The Impact Of Individual Mobility Augmentee Loss At The Tanker Airlift Control Center, Megan A. Leiter

Theses and Dissertations

The Tanker Airlift Control Center (TACC) operates as the execution arm for Air Mobility Command's Global Reach mission. The Command and Control Directorate (XOC) monitors the execution of missions tasked to the 18th Air Force. Approximately 70% of the personnel on the operations floor are considered Individual Mobility Augmentees (IMA). Adjustments in manpower, specifically the loss of IMAs, at the TACC/XOCG may impact their responsiveness to mission deviations. This research develops a discrete event simulation using a combination of SME and historical data to capture the activities of a section of the personnel on the operations floor and the potential …


Surveillance Versus Reconnaissance: An Entropy Based Model, Tamilyn S. Dismukes Mar 2012

Surveillance Versus Reconnaissance: An Entropy Based Model, Tamilyn S. Dismukes

Theses and Dissertations

With the advancing capabilities of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets and sensors, effective utilization of these resources continues to pose a challenge to military decision makers. The methodology developed explores allocation of ISR assets while balancing detection of new targets versus surveillance of already detected targets using entropy as a Measure of Effectiveness (MOE). Scenarios with an unknown number of static and moving targets in a bounded geographical region are considered. A baseline model was built to examine four different search algorithms: random, raster, greedy, and a rollout algorithm based on dynamic programming. A space-filling Nearly Orthogonal Latin Hypercube …


A Decision Analysis Perspective On Multiple Response Robust Optimization, Jonathan S. Findley Mar 2012

A Decision Analysis Perspective On Multiple Response Robust Optimization, Jonathan S. Findley

Theses and Dissertations

Decisions in which multiple objectives must be optimized simultaneously occur frequently in government, military, and industrial settings. One method a decision maker may use to assist in such decisions is the application of a desirability function. An informed specification of the desirability function's parameters is essential to accurately describe the decision maker's value trade-offs and risk preference. This thesis uses utility transversality to analyze the implicit trade-off and risk attitude assumptions attendant to the desirability function. The desirability function does not explicitly account for response variability. A robust solution takes not only the expected response into account, but also its …


Using Hybrid Simulation/Analytical Queueing Networks To Capacitate Usaf Air Mobility Command Passenger Terminals, Meredithe A. Jessup Ii Mar 2012

Using Hybrid Simulation/Analytical Queueing Networks To Capacitate Usaf Air Mobility Command Passenger Terminals, Meredithe A. Jessup Ii

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study is to model operations at an airport passenger terminal to determine the optimal service capacities at each station given estimated passenger flow patterns and service rates. The central formulation is an open Jackson queueing network that can be applied to any USAF Air Mobility Command (AMC) terminal regardless of passenger type mix and flow data. A complete methodology for analyzing passenger flows and queue performance of a single flight is produced and then embedded in a framework to analyze the same for multiple departing flights. Queueing network analysis (QNA) is used because no special software …


Using Vft As A Constraint For Goal Programming Models: A Case Study For Turkish Air Force Flying Hour Program, Ahmet Bengoz Mar 2012

Using Vft As A Constraint For Goal Programming Models: A Case Study For Turkish Air Force Flying Hour Program, Ahmet Bengoz

Theses and Dissertations

In its 60-year history, there have been many published documents in the literature about goal programming (GP), but contributions to the literature are still needed. This research intends to add to the literature on goal-programming models by discussing one of the key assumptions of GP regarding linearity, and by discussing some of the issues regarding incommensurability (difference in data types) and weighting. GP requires an interaction between the decision maker (DM) and the analyst to ensure that the model reflects the DM's preferences. However, it may be difficult for them to interact if the mathematical model is very large and …


The Effectiveness Of Using Diversity For Selecting Multiple Classifier Systems, Harris K. Butler Mar 2012

The Effectiveness Of Using Diversity For Selecting Multiple Classifier Systems, Harris K. Butler

Theses and Dissertations

A wealth of approaches exists to perform classification of items of interest. The goal of fusion techniques is to exploit complementary approaches and merge the information provided by these methods to provide a solution superior than any single method. Associated with choosing a fusion algorithm is the choice of algorithm or algorithms that will be fused. This decision is most often referred to as ensemble selection. Historically classifier ensemble accuracy has been used to accomplish this task. More recently research has focused on creating and evaluating diversity metrics to more effectively select ensemble members. This research focuses on the use …


Modeling Small Unmanned Aerial System Mishaps Using Logistics Regression And Artificial Neural Networks, Sean E. Wolf Feb 2012

Modeling Small Unmanned Aerial System Mishaps Using Logistics Regression And Artificial Neural Networks, Sean E. Wolf

Theses and Dissertations

A dataset of 854 small unmanned aerial system (SUAS) flight experiments from 2005-2009 is analyzed to determine significant factors that contribute to mishaps. The data from 29 airframes of different designs and technology readiness levels were aggregated. 20 measured parameters from each flight experiment are investigated, including wind speed, pilot experience, number of prior flights, pilot currency, etc. Outcomes of failures (loss of flight data) and damage (injury to airframe) are classified by logistic regression modeling and artificial neural network analysis. From the analysis, it can be concluded that SUAS damage is a random event that cannot be predicted with …