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Applies the concept of buyer‐seller relationship to long‐term planning of wholesaling operations. Current practices indicate that this kind of relational exchange reduces overall costs more than the traditional market exchange. Aims to help to operationalize this partnership by selecting a stable set of manufacturers and warehouses for an entire planning period. Develops a multi‐period optimization model incorporating constraints necessary for such stable solutions. This model requires a large number of variables and constraints, and is computationally challenging for most practical‐sized problems. Therefore proposes heuristic method to decompose the model into subproblems by partitioning the planning period into blocks of years and then synthesize the subproblem solutions. Such decomposition may also be useful to solve large dynamic location planning problems.

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the correction of the inaccuracies near edges and corners arising from thin shell models by means of an iterative finite element subproblem method. Classical thin shell approximations of conducting and/or magnetic regions replace the thin regions with impedance-type transmission conditions across surfaces, which introduce errors in the computation of the field distribution and Joule losses near edges and corners.

In the proposed approach local corrections around edges and corners are coupled to the thin shell models in an iterative procedure (each subproblem being influenced by the others), allowing to combine the efficiency of the thin shell approach with the accuracy of the full modelling of edge and corner effects.

The method is based on a thin shell solution in a complete problem, where conductive thin regions have been extracted and replaced by surfaces but strongly neglect errors on computation of the field distribution and Joule losses near edges and corners.

This model is only limited to thin shell models by means of an iterative finite element subproblem method.

The developed method is considered to couple subproblems in two-way coupling correction, where each solution is influenced by all the others. This means that an iterative procedure between the subproblems must be required to obtain an accurate (convergence) solution that defines as a series of corrections.

The purpose of this paper is to study and prioritize the problems impacted on construction work together migrant laborers, by using the Delphi technique. The case study is construction work in Bangkok and metropolitan zones, Thailand.

The framework of the perceived issues caused by working with migrant construction labors especially migrant construction laborers from neighboring countries were identified from literature reviews. The issue list was sent to 162 experts seeking for their opinions. Subsequently, a questionnaire was created from 58 items of suitable issue lists according to expert's opinions. The questionnaires were then submitted to 147 respondents from construction contractor companies. Their responses were calculated and prioritized by means of the Delphi technique

The polling data showed its constancy on the second round of survey. There were 34 out of 58 items passed consensus criteria. The issue “Foreman obtained incompetent or inadequate trained migrant labors when relocate them from/to other site or job” ranked 1st in priority ranking with the average score of 4.56. Subproblems were appropriately prioritized according to their mean scores.

The results of this research were expected to facilitate construction operators in making appropriate decisions and primary solution concerning main issue factors in working with migrant labors, in order to help even more increasing competition efficiency in Thai construction industries.

The research provides a list of main issue occurred in the case study. These outcomes are also expected to provide important information for other case studies on the issue working with migrant construction labor.

Analytical target cascading (ATC) is a hierarchical multi‐level design methodology. According to the state‐of‐the‐art, it is confirmed that for problems with unattainable targets, strict design consistency cannot be achieved with finite weighting factors. This paper aims to address these issues.

A new formulation is proposed to improve the ATC convergence. The weighted sum of deviation metric is transformed into a multi‐objective formulation. An original optimization problem with a single global optimal solution is used as a benchmark.

It is found that carrying out an industrial application to design optimally a tram traction system demonstrates the efficiency of the proposed solution.

This paper is of value in showing how to improve the convergence of a multi‐level optimization algorithm by best management of the consistency constraints.

This study aims to represent a novel closed-form solutions method based on the product of the exponential model to solve the inverse kinematics of a robotic manipulator. In addition, this method is applied to master–slave control of the minimally invasive surgical (MIS) robot.

For MIS robotic inverse kinematics, the closed-form solutions based on the product of the exponential model of manipulators are divided into the RRR and RRT subproblems. Geometric and algebraic constraints are used as preconditions to solve two subproblems. In addition, several important coordinate systems are established on the surgical robot and master–slave mapping strategies are illustrated in detail. Finally, the MIS robot can realize master–slave control by combining closed-form solutions and master–slave mapping strategy.

The simulation of the instrument manipulator based on the RRR and RRT subproblems is executed to verify the correctness of the proposed closed-form solutions. The fact that the accuracy of the closed-form solutions is better than that of the compensation method is validated by the contrastive linear trajectory experiment, and the average and the maximum tracking errors are 0.1388 mm and 0.3047 mm, respectively. In the animal experiment, the average and maximum tracking error of the left instrument manipulator are 0.2192 mm and 0.4987 mm, whereas the average and maximum tracking error of the right instrument manipulator are 0.1885 mm and 0.6933 mm. The successful completion of the animal experiment comprehensively demonstrated the feasibility and reliability of the master–slave control strategy based on the novel closed-form solutions.

The proposed closed-form solutions are error-free in theory. The master–slave control strategy is not affected by calculation error when the closed-form solutions are used in the surgical robot. And the accuracy and reliability of the master–slave control strategy are greatly improved.

This paper aims to build a novel model and approach that assist an aircraft MRO procurement and overhaul management problems from the perspective of aircraft maintenance service provider, in order to ensure its smoothness maintenance activities implementation. The mathematical model utilizes the data related to warehouse inventory management, incoming customer service planning as well as risk forecast and control management at the decision-making stage, which facilitates to alleviate the negative impact of the uncertain maintenance demands on the MRO spare parts inventory management operations.

A stochastic model is proposed to formulate the problem to minimize the impact of uncertain maintenance demands, which provides flexible procurement and overhaul strategies. A Benders decomposition algorithm is proposed to solve large-scale problem instances given the structure of the mathematical model.

Compared with the default branch-and-bound algorithm, the computational results suggest that the proposed Benders decomposition algorithm increases convergence speed.

The results among the same group of problem instances suggest the robustness of Benders decomposition in tackling instances with different number of stochastic scenarios involved.

Extending the proposed model and algorithm to a decision support system is possible, which utilizes the databases from enterprise's service planning and management information systems.

A novel decision-making model for the integrated rotable and expendable MRO spare parts planning problem under uncertain environment is developed, which is formulated as a two-stage stochastic programming model.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a subproblem finite element method for progressive modeling of lamination stacks in magnetic cores, from homogenized solutions up to accurate eddy current distributions and losses.

The homogenization of lamination stacks, subject to both longitudinal and transversal magnetic fluxes, is first performed and is followed by local correction subproblems in certain laminations separately, surrounded by their insulating layers and the remaining laminations kept homogenized. The sources for the local corrections are originally defined via interface conditions to allow the coupling between homogenized and non-homogenized portions.

The errors proper to the homogenization model, which neglects fringing effects, can be locally corrected in some selected portions via local eddy current subproblems considering the actual geometries and properties of the related laminations. The fineness of the mesh can thus be concentrated in these portions, while keeping a coupling with the rest of the laminations kept homogenized.

The method has been tested on a 2D case having linear material properties. It is however directly applicable in 3D. Its extension to the time domain with non-linear properties will be done.

The resulting subproblem method allows accurate and efficient calculations of eddy current losses in lamination stacks, which is generally unfeasible for real applications with a single problem approach. The accuracy and efficiency are obtained thanks to a proper refined mesh for each subproblem and the reuse of previous solutions to be locally corrected only acting in interface conditions. Corrections are progressively obtained up to accurate eddy current distributions in the laminations, allowing to improve the resulting global quantities: the Joule losses in the laminations, and the resistances and inductances of the surrounding windings.

The paper proposed a fast procedure for solving the reliability-based robust design optimization (RBRDO) by modifying the RBRDO formulation and transforming it into a series of RBRDO subproblems. Then for each subproblem, the objective function, constraint function and reliability index are approximated using Taylor series expansion, and their approximate forms depend on the deterministic design vector rather than the random vector and the uncertain estimation in the inner loop of RBRDO can be avoided. In this way, it can greatly reduce the evaluation number of performance function. Lastly, the trust region method is used to manage the above sequential RBRDO subproblems for convergence.

As is known, RBRDO is nested optimization, where the outer loop updates the design vector and the inner loop estimate the uncertainties. When solving the RBRDO, a large evaluation number of performance functions are needed. Aiming at this issue, the paper proposed a fast integrated procedure for solving the RBRDO by reducing the evaluation number for the performance functions. First, it transforms the original RBRDO problem into a series of RBRDO subproblems. In each subproblem, the objective function, constraint function and reliability index caused are approximated using simple explicit functions that solely depend on the deterministic design vector rather than the random vector. In this way, the need for extensive sampling simulation in the inner loop is greatly reduced. As a result, the evaluation number for performance functions is significantly reduced, leading to a substantial reduction in computation cost. The trust region method is then employed to handle the sequential RBRDO subproblems, ensuring convergence to the optimal solutions. Finally, the engineering test and the application are presented to illustrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed methods.

The paper proposes a fast procedure of solving the RBRDO can greatly reduce the evaluation number of performance function within the RBRDO and the computation cost can be saved greatly, which makes it suitable for engineering applications.

The standard deviation of the original objective function of the RBRDO is replaced by the mean and the reliability index of the original objective function, which are further approximated by using Taylor series expansion and their approximate forms depend on the deterministic design vector rather than the random vector. Moreover, the constraint functions are also approximated by using Taylor series expansion. In this way, the uncertainty estimation of the performance functions (i.e. the mean of the objective function, the constraint functions) and the reliability index of the objective function are avoided within the inner loop of the RBRDO.

A unified framework for solving the bending, buckling and vibration problems of rectangular thin plates (RTPs) with four free edges (FFFF), including isotropic RTPs, orthotropic rectangular thin plates (ORTPs) and nano-rectangular plates, is established by using the symplectic superposition method (SSM).

The original fourth-order partial differential equation is first rewritten into Hamiltonian system. The class of boundary value problems of the original equation is decomposed into three subproblems, and each subproblem is given the corresponding symplectic eigenvalues and symplectic eigenvectors by using the separation variable method in Hamiltonian system. The symplectic orthogonality and completeness of symplectic eigen-vectors are proved. Then, the symplectic eigenvector expansion method is applied to solve the each subproblem. Then, the symplectic superposition solution of the boundary value problem of the original fourth-order partial differential equation is given through superposing analytical solutions of three foundation plates.

The bending, vibration and buckling problems of the rectangular nano-plate/isotropic rectangular thin plate/orthotropic rectangular thin plate with FFFF can be solved by the unified symplectic superposition solution respectively.

The symplectic superposition solution obtained is a reference solution to verify the feasibility of other methods. At the same time, it can be used for parameter analysis to deeply understand the mechanical behavior of related RTPs. The advantages of this method are as follows: (1) It provides a systematic framework for solving the boundary value problem of a class of fourth-order partial differential equations. It is expected to solve more complicated boundary value problems of partial differential equations. (2) SSM uses series expansion of symplectic eigenvectors to accurately describe the solution. Moreover, symplectic eigenvectors are orthogonal and directly reflect the orthogonal relationship of vibration modes. (3) The SSM can be carried to bending, buckling and free vibration problems of the same plate with other boundary conditions.