An integrated weighted fuzzy multi-objective model for supplier selection and order scheduling in a supply chain

This paper presents a new weighted fuzzy multi-objective model to integrated supplier selection, order quantity allocation and customer order scheduling problem to prepare a responsive and order-oriented supply chain in a make-to-order manufacturing system. Total cost and quality of purchased parts as well as the reliability of on-time delivery of customer orders are regarded as the objectives of the model. On the other hand, flexible suppliers can contribute to the responsiveness and flexibility of entire supply chain in the face of uncertain customer orders. Therefore, a mathematical measure is developed for evaluating the volume flexibility of suppliers and is considered as the other objective of the model. Furthermore, by considering the effect of interdependencies between the selection criteria and to handle inconsistent and uncertain judgments, a fuzzy analytic network process method is used to identify top suppliers and consider as the last objective. In order to optimise these objectives, the decision-maker needs to decide from which supplier to purchase parts needed to assemble the customer orders, how to allocate the demand for parts between the selected suppliers, and how to schedule the customer orders for assembled products over the planning time horizon. Numerical examples are presented and computational analysis is reported.     

Modeling Failure Process and Quantifying the Effects of Multiple Types of Preventive Maintenance for a Repairable System

In this paper, we consider a repairable system whose failures follow a non‐homogenous Poisson process with the power law intensity function. The system is subject to corrective and multiple types of preventive maintenance. A corrective maintenance has a minimal effect on the system; however, a preventive maintenance may reduce the system's age. We assume the effects of different preventive maintenance on the system are not identical and derive the likelihood function to estimate the parameters of the failure process as well as the effects of preventive maintenance. Moreover, we derive the conditional reliability and the expected number of failures between two consecutive preventive maintenance types. The proposed methods are applied to a real case study of four trucks used in a mining site in Canada. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optical properties of carbonized sporinite in vitrinite/sporinite blends

A study is made of the morphological and optical properties of a blend of concentrated sporinite and vitrinite macerals (equal parts) from the same coal carbonized between 400–900 °C at 5 °C/min under nitrogen. Two coals of different rank were used and the results compared with properties of unblended carbonized sporinites. Coke from a blend of low-rank vitrinite and sporinite produced a two-phase optical texture, whereas coke from the medium-rank vitrinite and sporinite mixture produced a three-phase optical texture. A ‘Transitional Zone’ of optical texture was observed at interfaces between carbonized vitrinite and sporinite, this zone being wider for the coal of higher rank. The increase of bireflectance in oil with carbonization temperature of the sporinite in the blends was lower than for the carbonized unblended sporinite, caused by a reduction in fluidity of sporinite with blending. The decrease of refractive index for sporinite carbonized > 600 °C in the blends was lower than that of the unblended sporinite.     

A multi-objective particle swarm optimisation algorithm for unequal sized dynamic facility layout problem with pickup/drop-off locations

This paper deals with a multi-objective unequal sized dynamic facility layout problem (DFLP) with pickup/drop-off locations. First, a mathematical model to obtain optimal solutions for small size instances of the problem is developed. Then, a multi-objective particle swarm optimisation (MOPSO) algorithm is implemented to find near optimal solutions. Two new heuristics to prevent overlapping of the departments and to reduce ‘unused gaps’ between the departments are introduced. The performance of the MOPSO is examined using some sets of available test problems in the literature and various random test problems in small, medium, and large sizes. The percentage of improvements on the initial solutions is calculated for small, medium and large size instances. Also, the generation metric and the space metric for non-dominated solutions are examined. These experiments show the good performance of the developed MOPSO and sensitivity analysis show the robustness of the obtained solutions.     

Evaluation of Zefreh Dolomite (Central Iran) for Production of Magnesium via the Pidgeon Process

This study evaluates the production of magnesium metal from the Zefreh dolomite ore of Central Iran using the Pidgeon process. The investigation consisted of mineralogical and chemical characterization of the dolomite ore, calcining, chemical characterization, LOI (loss on ignition) determination, reduction tests on the calcined dolomite (dolime), using Iranian (Semnan) ferrosilicon and mineralogical, and chemical characterization of the reactants and products. Calcining of dolomite samples was carried out at approximately 1400°C in order to remove CO₂, moisture, and other easily volatilized impurities. The dolime was then milled, along with ferrosilicon, thoroughly mixed, and briquetted. The briquettes were heated at 1125°C--1150°C and 500 Pa in a tube reactor for 10--12 hours to extract the magnesium. The ferrosilicon to dolime ratio was determined based on the chemical analyses of the two reactants, using as a guide, and Mintek's Pyrosim software package. Magnesium extraction varied with ferrosilicon addition and with the dolime used, and reach about 80% under optimal conditions. The levels of major impurities encountered in the magnesium crown were similar to those in the crude metal production.     

Genetic algorithm application for matching ordinary black oil PVT data

In the study of reservoirs, it is vital that we have a realistic physical model of the reservoir fluid that accurately describes the hydrocarbon system and its properties. The available equations of state (EOS) to model the fluid phase behavior have some inherent deficiencies that may cause erroneous predictions for real reservoir fluids, so these models should be tuned against experimental data by adjusting some parameters. Since there are many matching parameters, tuning the EOS against experimental data is a tedious and difficult work. In this study, a genetic algorithm as an optimization technique is used to solve this regression problem. This study presents a new method that uses a specially designed genetic algorithm to search for suitable regression parameters to match the EOS against measured data. The proposed method has been tested on three real black oil samples. The results show the surprising performance of the developed genetic algorithm to match the experimental data of the selected fluid samples. The main advantage of the used method is its high speed in finding a solution. Also, finding more than one solution, working automatically, confining the role of experts to the last stage, reducing costs and having the possibility of evaluating the different situations are the other advantages of this method to match ordinary black oil PVT data and makes it an ideal method to implement as an automatic EOS tuning algorithm for black oils.     

Reducing Dangerous Effects of Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine as a Liquid Propellant by Addition of Hydroxyethylhydrazine—Part I: Physical Properties

In this work, the effect of low volatile hydroxyethylhydrazine (HEH) as a solute on unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) has been studied in order to reduce harmful effects of UDMH vapors. Desirable physical properties of binary mixtures UDMH/HEH have been measured and compared to pure UDMH. These properties include boiling point, viscosity, density, and vapor pressure that are important for using binary mixtures of UDMH/HEH as less dangerous liquid propellants. Due to the formation of strong hydrogen bonding between UDMH and HEH, the volatility of UDMH has been reduced appreciably upon the addition of HEH. It is indicated that the measured physical properties may deviate significantly compared to corresponding predicted values. Binary mixtures of UDMH/HEH can also react spontaneously in contact with nitrogen tetroxide (NTO) and red fuming nitric acid (RFNA), so they can be called hypergolic propellants.     

Thermodynamic and Electrochemical Studies of Aniline and Phenylhydrazine and Their Derivatives Substituted POCl3-Based Compounds as Corrosion Inhibitor for Mild Steel in Hydrochloric Acid Solution

Protection of Metals and Physical Chemistry of Surfaces - The achievement of high corrosion inhibition performances by manipulating the molecular structure of organic substances has gained much...     

Application of the extended Kantorovich method to the bending of variable thickness plates

The governing equations of the classical plate theory for a uniform or a unidirectional variable thickness rectangular plate under transverse applied loading are solved by means of the extended Kantorovich method. The plate may be either simply supported or clamped along the edges. The solution procedure is iterative and must be carried out numerically. This necessitates the calculation of the two missing pieces of boundary data along the edges of the plate. The missing boundary data are determined utilizing the method of adjoints of the shooting method. The numerical values of the deflection and bending moments for uniform and variable thickness plates are compared with those from the exact solutions and finite element analysis, respectively.     

A CFD Analysis of Ventilation Effectiveness in a Partitioned Room

A numerical model has been developed to investigate the contaminant removal and air freshness in a ventilated two-zone enclosure. The average contaminants and the distributions of air age in each zone under variable positions of door, supply and exhaust are compared. The correlation between the average contaminants and each of the main parameters, such as door location, supply and exhaust positions etc., are presented, and the average air ages in both zones are illustrated against door position. It is found that the average air age in the upstream zone is less affected by the door position than that in the downstream zone, and that the door position near the side-walls seems to give better air circulation. It is also concluded that the supply and door positions affect the concentration in the upstream zone significantly, while the exhaust location does not seem to influence the average concentration in either the upstream or the downstream zone.