Optimal Ship Fuel Selection under Life Cycle Uncertainty

Shipowners need to prepare for low-emission fuel alternatives to meet the IMO 2050 goals. This is a complex problem due to conflicting objectives and a high degree of uncertainty. To help navigate this problem, this paper investigates how methods that take uncertainty into account, like robust optimization and stochastic optimization, could be...

Generalized Models of Sequential Decision-Making under Uncertainty

Sequential decision-making under uncertainty is an important branch of artificial intelligence research with a plethora of real-life applications. In this thesis, we generalize two fundamental properties of the decision-making process. First, we show that the theory on planning methods for finite spaces can be extended to infinite but countable...

Decisions on life-cycle reliability of flood defence systems

Many countries rely on flood defence systems to prevent economic damage and loss-of-life due to catastrophic floods. Asset managers of flood defence systems need to cope with the consequences of structural degradation, and changing societal and environmental conditions, in order to satisfy performance requirements and optimize societal value of...

Tractable Reserve Scheduling Formulations for Alternating Current Power Grids with Uncertain Generation

The increasing penetration of wind power generation introduces uncertainty in the behaviour of electric power grids. This work is concerned with the problem of day-ahead reserve scheduling (RS) for power systems with high levels of wind power penetration, and proposes a novel set-up that incorporates an alternating current (AC) Optimal Power...

Strategies, Methods and Tools for Solving Long-term Transmission Expansion Planning in Large-scale Power Systems

Uncertainties Analysis and Life Cycle Costs of Piping Mitigation Measures

The traditional Dutch way to deal with piping failure in river dikes is the implementation of piping berms. The disadvantage of such a measure is the required inland space. Relief wells, on the other hand, require less or no inland space representing an attractive alternative solution. The aims of this paper are first, to show how reliability...

Sequential robust optimization of a V-bending process using numerical simulations

The coupling of finite element simulations to mathematical optimization techniques has contributed significantly to product improvements and cost reductions in the metal forming industries. The next challenge is to bridge the gap between deterministic optimization techniques and the industrial need for robustness. This paper introduces a...

Understanding catchment behaviour through model concept improvement

This thesis describes an approach to model development based on the concept of iterative model improvement, which is a process where by trial and error different hypotheses of catchment behaviour are progressively tested, and the understanding of the system proceeds through a combined process of modelling and experimenting. We show a number of...

Uncertainty-based Design Optimization of Structures with Bounded-But-Unknown Uncertainties