Sharif Digital Repository

Capacitor setting and reconfiguration are of main means of loss reduction and voltage profile improvement in distribution system operation. Cooperation between these two strategies can effectively minimize power losses in distribution system automation. Also, from the medium and long term viewpoint, capacitor placement and reconfiguration can be used for loss reduction and reliability enhancement. In this section, the sum of losses cost, capacitor investment cost and reliability cost should be minimized. Regarding the need to solve two non-linear combinatorial optimization problems simultaneously, metaheuristic algorithms are used in this thesis. Specifically, Elitist Genetic Algorithm,... 

Nurse scheduling problem has received a great amount of attention during recent years. In this problem number of needed nurses from different skill levels is given for each Location-shift during planning horizon, and the goal is to allocate each nurse to shifts, such that the demand of each location-shift is satisfied. Many researches have been done with the aim of minimizing the number of needed nurses to satisfy the demand of locationshifts or maximizing nurses preferences to work in desired shifts. In this research an integer programming model is proposed to minimize the number of needed nurses and maximize nurses preferences simultaneously. The proposed mathematical model is appropriate... 

In this study, a tree-dimensional random pore-scale network model is used to simulate the membrane contactor porous medium. Drainage and imbibition phenomena is simulated to have a better knowledge of liquid and/gas intrusion trough the membrane porous structure. A genetic algorithm is used as an optimization tool. Several variables such as the number, radius and location of pores, the coordination number, as well as the radius and length of the throats are used herein as the optimization parameters. The difference between the binary SEM images and virtual sections on the generated network in conjunction with the permeability and mean pore size data were selected as the objective function.... 

Aerodynamic shape optimization has been always of great importance in aerospace design. Recent advancements in computational algorithms and hardware, has made it feasible to have advanced optimization as a standard part of desing procedure. Here we have promoted aerodynamic optimization in three different applications, i. e., wing-body configuration, hydro propellers, and air propellers. First we have reviewed fluidic theoretical aspects, and have selected appropriate physical models or existing softwares. Accuracy of physical analysis or software is validated. Then different optimization algorithms are reviewed, and schemes used in this thesis are described and the softwares are validated. ... 

Computational grids enabling resource sharing and coordination are now one of the common and acceptable technologies used for solving computational intensive applications rising in scientific and industrial problems. Nevertheless, due to the heterogeneity, dynamicity and autonomy of the grid resources, task scheduling within these systems has become a challenging research area. Applying the market model to the grids is a good approach which can easily take the dynamic characteristics of the grid resources into account and simplify the scheduling problem considering user-centric factors.In this thesis a two level market-based model for task scheduling problem in grid environment is presented.... 

In this work, the in-motion estimation of Euler angles of a strapdown inertial navigation system is studied using a speedometer, as an aided navigation sensor. First, the derivation of governing error equations has been done. Then, the most appropriate heuristic filters available in references have been chosen for this study. Among this filters, unscented particle filter, that has better performance and conditions for the real-time implementation, has been chosen. Then, an innovative solution for improving the performance of this filter is presented. The proposed filter uses particle swarm optimization to resample the particles. The proposed... 

Due date assignment for customer orders has been studied in various production environments. In this thesis a production system is considered in which the orders of several customers are produced in a single lot because of the economy of scale. If a lot is completed before receiving customer orders, inventory carrying cost is incurred. On shortages, a due date is quoted to customers and lead time quotation cost is incurred. The due date may not be met because of (lead-time) uncertainty in production system. Hence if the order is delivered after its due date, tardiness cost is charged. The literature reviews show that such a model is not considered by other researchers. Two different problems... 

In conventional grinding of hard to cut materials such as Ti6Al4V alloys, surface burning, redeposition and adhesion of chips to wheel and workpeice occur visibly unless it is carried out at low speeds and with high volume of cutting fluid. Ultrasonic assisted grinding (UAG) is an efficient machining process for hard-to-cut materials with poor machinability. UAG improves the machinability of such materials by changing the kinematics of the process. In this research, the effect of imposition of ultrasonic vibration on the grinding of Ti6Al4V is studied. Longitudinal vibration at ultrasonic frequency range (20 kHz) is applied on the workpiece and machining forces and surface roughness are... 

Since little attention has been given to multiattribute compared to multivariate control charts, this research is concerned with developing a new methodology to employ the multivariate exponentially weighted moving average (MEWMA) charts for multi-attribute processes. Moreover, since the variable sample size and sampling interval (VSSI) MEWMA charts detect small process mean-shifts faster than the traditional MEWMA, an economic design of VSSI MEWMA chart is proposed to obtain the optimum design parameters of the chart. The sample size, the sampling interval, and the warning/action limit coefficients are obtained using a genetic algorithm such that the expected total cost per hour is... 

Digital computer simulation and employing the concepts of the experimental design, and other analytical tools for evaluating its output have attracted many of the scientists and researchers interests in the recent decades. The importance of this topic has been increasing and more related analytical tools have been introduced to the scientific literature. One of the powerful tools for simplifying accelerating the optimization process of simulation results, are the use of the metamodels. Use of these powerful tools becomes more eminent when the simulation runs are expensive. By the use of the metamodels the needs of conducting sampling for obtaining some more new points from direct simulating... 

Industry Success leads to the use of fossil fuels in communities that result to climate change in the world. Among these effects, there is the effect on the severity, extent and duration of precipitation. Hydroelectric plants are clean and cheap energy resources in the world that due to the use of water, the phenomenon of climate change are very impressionable. Regarding high costs of construction and maintenance of these dams in order to exploit their lengthy; Impact of climate change on them is important issue.
In this research, first a nonlinear optimization model to maximize hydroelectric power generation by genetic algorithms in the MATLAB software environment has been developed.... 

Assortment planning considers the problem of product classification in order to maximize the profit by considering related constraints. Integrating the assortment planning with inventory management plays an essential role in retail optimization. The importance of integrating these problems is related to customer behavior in substituting the products in case of shortage. The customer checks the availability of products in order of his/her priorities and buys a product if available otherwise leaving the store without purchase if he/she cannot find a product according to his/her preferences. Customer preferences are modeled through the definition of consumer types, where a type is a ranking of... 

In recent decades, widespread application of Linear Complementarity Problems in various branches of science has led to many algorithms which have been proposed to solve these problems in the area of mathematics, economics and computer simulation. Ashtiani used Lemke algorithm for the first time to solve Linear Complementarity Problems in his algorithm for solving Traffic Assignment problem. In this study, Projection Gauss-Seidel algorithm along with two other similar algorithms have been studied for solving Linear Complementarity Problems in Ashtiani Complementarity algorithm and the results are compared with Lemke algorithm. Also an analytical method has been proposed for solving specific... 

This research presents scheduling of several different projects in supply chain environment which activities of these projects are performed by some contractor companies. A new practical model for solving project scheduling problem in supply chain environment is present. Multi renewable resource presents in the model of research. The research proves that the model is NP-Hard. A genetic algorithm and a simulated annealing algorithm are proposed for solving the model. The parameters of genetic algorithm such as the number of steps, the number of mutation in each step, the number of crossover in each step, the number of generation phase and also the parameters of simulated annealing algorithm... 

In this thesis, following a short introduction to investment problem, this problem is investigated with both probabilistic and universal approach. Using the concept of the set of reference algorithms, we present a mathematical definition for universality. We then give examples of universal algorithms for investment and prove their universality. These algorithms are:
Universal Portfolios without Side Information, Universal Portfolios with Side Information, Universal Portfolios with Semi-Constant Rebalanced Portfolio, Universal Portfolios with Switching.
We then present a new algorithm called “Universal Portfolio with Multiple Side Information Sources”. This algorithm is applied in... 

In this study, the numerical simulation of cavitating flows for cryogens fluids is performed. The algorithm employs the homogenous, multiphase Euler/Navier-Stokes equations with the interface capturing method. The thermodynamic and thermal effects substantially impact the cavitation dynamics of cryogenic fluids and therefore these effects should be considered by solving the energy equation in conjunction with the mass and momentum conservation, and updating the fluid physical properties. Here, two cavitation modeling strategies, namely, the barotropic cavitation model and the transport equation-based model are used. Both laminar and turbulent cavitating flows are studied in this work. For... 

This thesis presents a method to solve a redundancy allocation problem for the series-parallel system. The modeling formulation deals with the choice of the best redundancy strategy, component and redundancy level for each subsystem in order to maximize the system reliability under system-level constraints. Majority of the solution methods for the general redundancy allocation problems assume that the failure rate of components is determined. However, in practice variable failure rate may be used. The complexity of this problem is known as NP-hard and therefore the optimal solution is not accessible in the normal course of events. It is demonstrated in this thesis that genetic algorithm is... 

In facility location problem with uncertain data, some model parameters such as demand or transportation time are not known in advance and in many cases, no historical information exists to derive their probability distribution functions. In this situation, robust optimization is a prevalent approach. In this study, to apply robust optimization in our model, first we review its concepts and methods. Then, a mathematical model for a new facility location problem, as well as its robust counterpart is developed. Furthermore, we also develop a model for simultaneous decision making regarding facility location problem and sequencing. In this model, it is also assumed the process times are... 

The coding and compression of information sources with special probability distribution is the center of concentration of researchers in this field in the last decades. In this dissertation, after a concise introduction to source coding, we focus on the universal source coding and data compression from an algorithmic and information theoretic point of view. First we introduce the fundamental concepts of source coding and data compression. Then, we analysis some algorithms on integer coding and verify their universality and asymptotically optimality. Usually statistics of information sources is not available in communication systems and storage devices, so that applying universal source... 

In general, reliability is the ability of a system to perform and maintain its functions in routine circumstances, as well as hostile or unexpected circumstances. Redundancy Allocation Problem (RAP) is a combinatorial problem where it is going to maximize system reliability by discrete selection from available components. The main purpose of this study is to prove the effectiveness of robust optimization to solve RAP. Generally, robust optimization is a field of optimization theory where robustness is sought against uncertainty and/or variability of parameters' values. In this study it is assumed to have Erlang distribution density for components' failures where to implement robust...