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The purpose of this study is to develop a stochastic finite element method (FEM) to solve the calculation precision deficiency caused by spatial variability of dam compaction quality.

The Choleski decomposition method was applied to generate constraint random field of porosity. Large-scale laboratory triaxial tests were conducted to determine the quantitative relationship between the dam compaction quality and Duncan–Chang constitutive model parameters. Based on this developed relationship, the constraint random fields of the mechanical parameters were generated. The stochastic FEM could be conducted.

When the fully random field was simulated without the restriction effect of experimental data on test pits, the spatial variabilities of both displacement and stress results were all overestimated; however, when the stochastic FEM was performed disregarding the correlation between mechanical parameters, the variabilities of vertical displacement and stress results were underestimated and variation pattern for horizontal displacement also changed. In addition, the method could produce results that are closer to the actual situation.

Although only concrete-faced rockfill dam was tested in the numerical examples, the proposed method is applicable for arbitrary types of rockfill dams.

The value of this study is that the proposed method allowed for the spatial variability of constitutive model parameters and that the applicability was confirmed by the actual project.

Introduces papers from this area of expertise from the ISEF 1999 Proceedings. States the goal herein is one of identifying devices or systems able to provide prescribed performance. Notes that 18 papers from the Symposium are grouped in the area of automated optimal design. Describes the main challenges that condition computational electromagnetism’s future development. Concludes by itemizing the range of applications from small activators to optimization of induction heating systems in this third chapter.

Choice under risk has a large stochastic (unpredictable) component. This chapter examines five stochastic models for binary discrete choice under risk and how they combine with “structural” theories of choice under risk. Stochastic models are substantive theoretical hypotheses that are frequently testable in and of themselves, and also identifying restrictions for hypothesis tests, estimation and prediction. Econometric comparisons suggest that for the purpose of prediction (as opposed to explanation), choices of stochastic models may be far more consequential than choices of structures such as expected utility or rank-dependent utility.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

Gives a bibliographical review of the finite element methods (FEMs) applied for the linear and nonlinear, static and dynamic analyses of basic structural elements from the theoretical as well as practical points of view. The range of applications of FEMs in this area is wide and cannot be presented in a single paper; therefore aims to give the reader an encyclopaedic view on the subject. The bibliography at the end of the paper contains 2,025 references to papers, conference proceedings and theses/dissertations dealing with the analysis of beams, columns, rods, bars, cables, discs, blades, shafts, membranes, plates and shells that were published in 1992‐1995.

The use of random assignment can be effective and appropriate in the evaluation of programmes that serve children in schools. Because random assignment creates pre‐treatment equality between treatment and control groups, this methodology is particularly effective for understanding the impact of an intervention. Contemporary research on educational experiments has tended to focus on programme results rather than on their origin or implementation. While programme results are important, they provide little guidance to those interested in designing and implementing programme evaluations that use random assignment. This article shares the practical lessons learned from three educational experiments with researchers and practitioners interested in pursuing evaluations that use random assignment.

To establish a statistical formulation of robust design optimization and to develop a fast optimization algorithm for the solution of the statistical design problem.

Existing formulations and methods for statistical robust design are reviewed and compared. A consistent problem formulation in terms of statistical parameters of the involved variables is introduced. A novel algorithm for statistical optimization is developed. It is based on the unscented transformation, a fast method for the propagation of random variables through nonlinear functions. The prediction performance of the unscented transformation is demonstrated and compared with other methods by means of an analytical test function. The validity of the proposed approach is shown through the design of the superconducting magnetic energy storage device of the TEAM workshop problem 22.

Provides a consistent formulation of statistical robust design optimization and an efficient and accurate method for the solution of practical problems.

The proposed approach can be applied to all kinds of design problems and allows to account for the inevitable effects of tolerances and parameter variations occuring in practical realizations of designed devices.

The main contribution of this manuscript is to suggest new approaches in order to deal with dynamic lot-sizing and maintenance problem under aspect energetic and risk analysis. The authors introduce a new maintenance strategy based on the centroid approach to determine a common preventive maintenance plan for all machines to minimize the total maintenance cost. Thereafter, the authors suggest a risk analysis study further to unforeseen disruption of availability machines with the aim of helping the production stakeholders to achieve the obtained forecasting lot-size plan.

The authors tackle the dynamic lot-sizing problem using an efficient hybrid approach based on random exploration and branch and bound method to generate possible solutions. Indeed, the feasible solutions of random exploration method are used as input for branch and bound to determine the near-optimal solution of lot-size plan. In addition, our contribution to the maintenance part is to determine the optimal common maintenance plan for M machines based on a new algorithm called preventive maintenance (PM) periods means.

First, the authors have funded the optimal lot-size plan that should satisfy the random demand under service level requirement and energy constraint while minimizing the costs of production and inventory. Indeed, establishing a best lot-size plan is to determine the appropriate number of available machines and manufactured units per period. Second, for risk analysis study, the solution of subcontracting is proposed by specifying a maximum cost of subcontractor in the context of a calling of tenders.

For maintenance problem, the originality consists in regrouping the maintenance plans of M machines into only one plan. This approach lets us to minimize the total maintenance cost and reduces the frequent breaks of production. As a second part, this paper contributed to the development of a new risk analysis study further to unforeseen disruption of availability machines. This risk analysis developed a decision-making system, for production stakeholders, in order to achieve the forecasting lot-size plan and keeps its profitability, by specifying the unit cost threshold of subcontractor in the context of a calling of tender.

Aiming at obtaining a high-quality global path for a mobile robot which works in complex environments, a modified particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, named random-disturbance self-adaptive particle swarm optimization (RDSAPSO), is proposed in this paper.

A perturbed global updating mechanism is introduced to the global best position to avoid stagnation in RDSAPSO. Moreover, a new self-adaptive strategy is proposed to fine-tune the three control parameters in RDSAPSO to dynamically adjust the exploration and exploitation capabilities of RDSAPSO. Because the convergence of PSO is paramount and influences the quality of the generated path, this paper also analytically investigates the convergence of RDSAPSO and provides a convergence-guaranteed parameter selection principle for RDSAPSO. Finally, a RDSAPSO-based global path planning (GPP) method is developed, in which the feasibility-based rule is applied to handle the constraint of the problem.

In an attempt to validate the proposed method, it is compared against six state-of-the-art evolutionary methods under three different numerical simulations. The simulation results confirm that the proposed method is highly competitive in terms of the path optimality. Moreover, the computation time of the proposed method is comparable with those of the other compared methods.

Therefore, the proposed method can be considered as a vital alternative in the field of GPP.