An improved α-cut approach to transforming fuzzy membership function into basic belief assignment

In practical applications, pieces of evidence originated from different sources might be modeled by different uncertainty theories. To implement the evidence combination under the Dempster–Shafer evidence theory(DST) framework, transformations from the other type of uncertainty representation into the basic belief assignment are needed. a-Cut is an important approach to transforming a fuzzy membership function into a basic belief assignment, which provides a bridge between the fuzzy set theory and the DST. Some drawbacks of the traditional a-cut approach caused by its normalization step are pointed out in this paper. An improved a-cut approach is proposed, which can counteract the drawbacks of the traditional a-cut approach and has good properties. Illustrative examples, experiments and related analyses are provided to show the rationality of the improved a-cut approach.     

Measuring reliability under epistemic uncertainty:Review on non-probabilistic reliability metrics

In this paper, a systematic review of non-probabilistic reliability metrics is conducted to assist the selection of appropriate reliability metrics to model the influence of epistemic uncertainty. Five frequently used non-probabilistic reliability metrics are critically reviewed, i.e., evidence-theory-based reliability metrics, interval-analysis-based reliability metrics, fuzzy-interval-analysis-based reliability metrics, possibility-theory-based reliability metrics (posbist reliability) and uncertainty-theory-based reliability metrics (belief reliability). It is pointed out that a qualified reli-ability metric that is able to consider the effect of epistemic uncertainty needs to (1) compensate the conservatism in the estimations of the component-level reliability metrics caused by epistemic uncertainty, and (2) satisfy the duality axiom, otherwise it might lead to paradoxical and confusing results in engineering applications. The five commonly used non-probabilistic reliability metrics are compared in terms of these two properties, and the comparison can serve as a basis for the selection of the appropriate reliability metrics.     

Epistemic uncertainty quantification in flutter analysis using evidence theory

Aimed at evaluating the structural stability and flutter risk of the system, this paper manages to quantify epistemic uncertainty in flutter analysis using evidence theory, including both parametric uncertainty and method selection uncertainty, on the basis of information from limited experimental data of uncertain parameters. Two uncertain variables of the actuator coupling system with unknown probability distributions, that is bending and torsional stiffness, which are both described with multiple intervals and the basic belief assignment(BBA) extricated from the modal test of actuator coupling systems, are taken into account. Considering the difference in dealing with experimental data by different persons and the reliability of various information sources, a new combination rule of evidence––the generalized lower triangular matrices method is formed to acquire the combined BBA. Finally the parametric uncertainty and the epistemic uncertainty of flutter analysis method selection are considered in the same system to realize quantification. A typical rudder of missile is selected to examine the present method, and the dangerous range of velocity as well as relevant belief and plausibility functions is obtained. The results suggest that the present method is effective in obtaining the lower and upper bounds of flutter probability and assessing flutter risk of structures with limited experimental data of uncertain parameters and the belief of different methods.     

A novel approximation of basic probability assignment based on rank-level fusion

Belief functions theory is an important tool in the field of information fusion. However, when the cardinality of the frame of discernment becomes large, the high computational cost of evidence combination will become the bottleneck of belief functions theory in real applications. The basic probability assignment (BPA) approximations, which can reduce the complexity of the BPAs, are always used to reduce the computational cost of evidence combination. In this paper, both the cardinalities and the mass assignment values of focal elements are used as the criteria of reduction. The two criteria are jointly used by using rank-level fusion. Some experiments and related analyses are provided to illustrate and justify the proposed new BPA approximation approach.     

Real-time fault detection method based on belief rule base for aircraft navigation system

Real-time and accurate fault detection is essential to enhance the aircraft navigation system’s reliability and safety. The existent detection methods based on analytical model draws back at simultaneously detecting gradual and sudden faults. On account of this reason, we propose an online detection solution based on non-analytical model. In this article, the navigation system fault detection model is established based on belief rule base (BRB), where the system measuring residual and its changing rate are used as the inputs of BRB model and the fault detection function as the output. To overcome the drawbacks of current parameter optimization algorithms for BRB and achieve online update, a parameter recursive estimation algorithm is presented for online BRB detection model based on expectation maximization (EM) algorithm. Furthermore, the proposed method is verified by navigation experiment. Experimental results show that the proposed method is able to effectively realize online parameter evaluation in navigation system fault detection model. The output of the detection model can track the fault state very well, and the faults can be diagnosed in real time and accurately. In addition, the detection ability, especially in the probability of false detection, is superior to offline optimization method, and thus the system reliability has great improvement.     

Uncertainty analysis and design optimization of hybrid rocket motor powered vehicle for suborbital flight

In this paper, we propose an uncertainty analysis and design optimization method and its applications on a hybrid rocket motor(HRM) powered vehicle. The multidisciplinary design model of the rocket system is established and the design uncertainties are quantified. The sensitivity analysis of the uncertainties shows that the uncertainty generated from the error of fuel regression rate model has the most significant effect on the system performances. Then the differences between deterministic design optimization(DDO) and uncertainty-based design optimization(UDO) are discussed. Two newly formed uncertainty analysis methods, including the Kriging-based Monte Carlo simulation(KMCS) and Kriging-based Taylor series approximation(KTSA), are carried out using a global approximation Kriging modeling method. Based on the system design model and the results of design uncertainty analysis, the design optimization of an HRM powered vehicle for suborbital flight is implemented using three design optimization methods: DDO, KMCS and KTSA. The comparisons indicate that the two UDO methods can enhance the design reliability and robustness. The researches and methods proposed in this paper can provide a better way for the general design of HRM powered vehicles.In this paper,we propose an uncertainty analysis and design optimization method and its applications on a hybrid rocket motor(HRM)powered vehicle.The multidisciplinary design model of the rocket system is established and the design uncertainties are quantified.The sensitivity analysis of the uncertainties shows that the uncertainty generated from the error of fuel regression rate model has the most significant effect on the system performances.Then the differences between deterministic design optimization(DDO)and uncertainty-based design optimization(UDO)are discussed.Two newly formed uncertainty analysis methods,including the Kriging-based Monte Carlo simulation(KMCS)and Kriging-based Taylor series approximation(KTSA),are carried out using a global approximation Kriging modeling method.Based on the system design model and the results of design uncertainty analysis,the design optimization of an HRM powered vehicle for suborbital flight is implemented using three design optimization methods:DDO,KMCS and KTSA.The comparisons indicate that the two UDO methods can enhance the design reliability and robustness.The researches and methods proposed in this paper can provide a better way for the general design of HRM powered vehicles.     

Crashworthiness uncertainty analysis of typical civil aircraft based on Box–Behnken method

The crashworthiness is an important design factor of civil aircraft related with the safety of occupant during impact accident. It is a highly nonlinear transient dynamic problem and may be greatly influenced by the uncertainty factors. Crashworthiness uncertainty analysis is conducted to investigate the effects of initial conditions, structural dimensions and material properties. Simplified finite element model is built based on the geometrical model and basic physics phenomenon. Box–Behnken sampling and response surface methods are adopted to obtain gradient information.Results show that the proposed methods are effective for crashworthiness uncertainty analysis.Yield stress, frame thickness, impact velocity and angle have great influence on the failure behavior,and yield stress and frame thickness dominate the uncertainty of internal energy. Failure strain and tangent modulus have the smallest influence on the initial peak acceleration, and gradients of mean acceleration increase because the appearance of material plastic deformation and element failure.     

Adaptive path planning for unmanned aerial vehicles based on bi-level programming and variable planning time interval

This paper presents an adaptive path planner for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to adapt a real-time path search procedure to variations and fluctuations of UAVs’ relevant performances, with respect to sensory capability, maneuverability, and flight velocity limit. On the basis of a novel adaptability-involved problem statement, bi-level programming (BLP) and variable planning step techniques are introduced to model the necessary path planning components and then an adaptive path planner is developed for the purpose of adaptation and optimization. Additionally, both probabilistic-risk-based obstacle avoidance and performance limits are described as path search constraints to guarantee path safety and navigability. A discrete-search-based path planning solution, embedded with four optimization strategies, is especially designed for the planner to efficiently generate optimal flight paths in complex operational spaces, within which different surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) are deployed. Simulation results in challenging and stochastic scenarios firstly demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed planner, and then verify its great adaptability and relative stability when planning optimal paths for a UAV with changing or fluctuating performances.     

Dynamics modeling and control of a transport aircraft for ultra-low altitude airdrop

The nonlinear aircraft model with heavy cargo moving inside is derived by using the separation body method, which can describe the influence of the moving cargo on the aircraft attitude and altitude accurately. Furthermore, the nonlinear system is decoupled and linearized through the input–output feedback linearization method. On this basis, an iterative quasi-sliding mode(SM)flight controller for speed and pitch angle control is proposed. At the first-level SM, a global dynamic switching function is introduced thus eliminating the reaching phase of the sliding motion.At the second-level SM, a nonlinear function with the property of ‘‘smaller errors correspond to bigger gains and bigger errors correspond to saturated gains' ' is designed to form an integral sliding manifold, and the overcompensation of the integral term to big errors is weakened. Lyapunovbased analysis shows that the controller with strong robustness can reject both constant and time-varying model uncertainties. The performance of the proposed control strategy is verified in a maximum load airdrop mission.     

Strategic flight assignment approach based on multi-objective parallel evolution algorithm with dynamic migration interval

The continuous growth of air traffic has led to acute airspace congestion and severe delays, which threatens operation safety and cause enormous economic loss. Flight assignment is an economical and effective strategic plan to reduce the flight delay and airspace congestion by reasonably regulating the air traffic flow of China. However, it is a large-scale combinatorial optimization problem which is difficult to solve. In order to improve the quality of solutions, an effective multi-objective parallel evolution algorithm(MPEA) framework with dynamic migration interval strategy is presented in this work. Firstly, multiple evolution populations are constructed to solve the problem simultaneously to enhance the optimization capability. Then a new strategy is proposed to dynamically change the migration interval among different evolution populations to improve the efficiency of the cooperation of populations. Finally, the cooperative co-evolution(CC) algorithm combined with non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II(NSGA-II) is introduced for each population. Empirical studies using the real air traffic data of the Chinese air route network and daily flight plans show that our method outperforms the existing approaches, multiobjective genetic algorithm(MOGA), multi-objective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition(MOEA/D), CC-based multi-objective algorithm(CCMA) as well as other two MPEAs with different migration interval strategies.     

Basic belief assignment approximations using degree of non-redundancy for focal element

Dempster-Shafer evidence theory, also called the theory of belief function, is widely used for uncertainty modeling and reasoning. However, when the size and number of focal elements are large, the evidence combination will bring a high computational complexity. To address this issue, various methods have been proposed including the implementation of more efficient combination rules and the simplifications or approximations of Basic Belief Assignments (BBAs). In this paper, a novel principle for approximating a BBA into a simpler one is proposed, which is based on the degree of non-redundancy for focal elements. More non-redundant focal elements are kept in the approximation while more redundant focal elements in the original BBA are removed first. Three types of degree of non-redundancy are defined based on three different definitions of focal element distance, respectively. Two different implementations of this principle for BBA approximations are proposed including a batch and an iterative type. Examples, experiments, comparisons and related analyses are provided to validate proposed approximation approaches.     

A new structural reliability index based on uncertainty theory

The classical probabilistic reliability theory and fuzzy reliability theory cannot directly measure the uncertainty of structural reliability with uncertain variables,i.e.,subjective random and fuzzy variables.In order to simultaneously satisfy the duality of randomness and subadditivity of fuzziness in the reliability problem,a new quantification method for the reliability of structures is presented based on uncertainty theory,and an uncertainty-theory-based perspective of classical Cornell reliability index is explored.In this paper,by introducing the uncertainty theory,we adopt the uncertain measure to quantify the reliability of structures for the subjective probability or fuzzy variables,instead of probabilistic and possibilistic measures.We utilize uncertain variables to uniformly represent the subjective random and fuzzy parameters,based on which we derive solutions to analyze the uncertainty reliability of structures with uncertainty distributions.Moreover,we propose the Cornell uncertainty reliability index based on the uncertain expected value and variance.Experimental results on three numerical applications demonstrate the validity of the proposed method.     

A new interpretable fault diagnosis method based on belief rule base and probability table

It is vital to establish an interpretable fault diagnosis model for critical equipment. Belief Rule Base (BRB) is an interpretable expert system gradually applied in fault diagnosis. However, the expert knowledge cannot be utilized to establish the initial BRB accurately if there are multiple referential grades in different fault features. In addition, the interpretability of BRB-based fault diagnosis is destroyed in the optimization process, which reflects in two aspects: deviation from the initial expert judgment and over-optimization of parameters. To solve these problems, a new interpretable fault diagnosis model based on BRB and probability table, called the BRB-P, is proposed in this paper. Compared with the traditional BRB, the BRB-P constructed by the probability table is more accurate. Then, the interpretability constraints, i.e., the credibility of expert knowledge, the penalty factor and the rule-activation factor, are inserted into the projection covariance matrix adaption evolution strategy to maintain the interpretability of BRB-P. A case study of the aerospace relay is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

De-combination of belief function based on optimization

In the theory of belief functions, the evidence combination is a kind of decision-level information fusion. Given two or more Basic Belief Assignments(BBAs) originated from different information sources, the combination rule is used to combine them to expect a better decision result. When only a combined BBA is given and original BBAs are discarded, if one wants to analyze the difference between the information sources, evidence de-combination is needed to determine the original BBAs. Evidence d...     

基于分层置信规则库的惯导系统性能评估方法

为解决惯导系统（INS）性能评估所面临的高价值样本缺失、评估指标多、系统复杂等问题,提出一种基于分层置信规则库（Hierarchical BRB）的惯导系统性能评估方法。将专家知识与监测数据进行有效融合,提高了惯导系统的性能评估精度。首先,针对惯导系统结构构建分层BRB模型,同时将系统内部器件产生组合误差考虑在模型中。其次,为降低专家知识不确定性对初始模型评估精度的影响,采用基于投影算子的协方差矩阵自适应优化策略（P-CMA-ES）构建优化模型,通过监测数据对模型参数进行微调。最后,以某型捷联惯导系统的性能评估为例,验证了所提方法的有效性。