Use of Petri Nets to Manage Civil Engineering Infrastructures

Over the last years there has been a shift, in the most developed countries, in investment and efforts within the construction sector. On the one hand, these countries have built infrastructures able to respond to current needs over the last decades, reducing the need for investments in new infrastructures now and in the near future. On the other hand, most of the infrastructures present clear signs of deterioration, making it fundamental to invest correctly in their recovery. The ageing of infrastructure together with the scarce budgets available for maintenance and rehabilitation are the main reasons for the development of decision support tools, as a mean to maximize the impact of investments. The objective of the present work is to develop a methodology for optimizing maintenance strategies, considering the available information on infrastructure degradation and the impact of maintenance in economic terms and loss of functionality, making possible the implementation of a management system transversal to different types of civil engineering infrastructures. The methodology used in the deterioration model is based on the concept of timed Petri nets. The maintenance model was built from the deterioration model, including the inspection, maintenance and renewal processes. The optimization of maintenance is performed through genetic algorithms. The deterioration and maintenance model was applied to components of two types of infrastructure: bridges (pre-stressed concrete decks and bearings) and buildings (ceramic claddings). The complete management system was used to analyse a section of a road network. All examples are based on Portuguese data

Railway infrastructure asset management: the whole-system life cost analysis

Delivering the railway infrastructure whose functionality is sustainable and uncompromised in terms of safety and availability under ever decreasing budget constraints is a great challenge. The successful accomplishment of this task relies on the effective management of individual assets within a wider whole system perspective. This is a highly complex decision-making task where mathematical models are required to enable well-informed choices. In this study, a novel modelling framework is proposed for performing the whole system lifecycle cost analysis. The framework is based on two models: railway network performance and costs. Using the former model investigations of the effects of decisions can be carried out for the individual asset and the whole system. A Petri net modelling technique is used to construct the model. A form of Monte Carlo simulation is then used to obtain model results. The infrastructure performance model is then integrated with the cost model to perform the lifecycle cost analysis. A superstructure example is presented to demonstrate the application of the approach. The results show that taking into account interdependencies among the intervention activities greatly influences, not only the performance of the infrastructure, but also its lifecycle costs and thus should be included in the cost analysis

Measurements, Models, Systems and Design

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Buffer Time Optimization in the Function of Timetable Stability

Timetable stability depends on the regularity of trains. Any deviation from the planned timetable leads to its instability. Railway network characteristics determine the capacities of the transport service. Depending on the capacity calculation method, time components are added to the minimum headway to ensure timetable stability. The UIC 405 method is simple and can be used on all railways. The disadvantage is that the calculations are based on average data. According to the method, the minimum headway consists of the time of the average headway interval, additional time and the buffer time. The additional time is precisely defined by the number of APB sections, while the buffer time is in the average value. When creating the timetable, the goal is optimal utilisation of the infrastructure. If the headway is too long, the capacity is not used, and if it is too short, timetable instability will ensue. Instead of averaging, this work calculates a buffer time that depends on the ratio of the travel time of the previous and the following trains. In this way, the headway is optimised and the calculation of the UIC 405 method is improved

A holistic approach to railway infrastructure asset management

In the railway industry asset management decisions are focused on the maintenance, enhancement and renewal of assets in order to ensure a required level of dependability and improvement in services at the lowest whole life costs. To achieve these objectives system lifecycle models, rather than individual asset models,= offer a greater advantage. The paper presents a modelling approach developed for constructing multi asset system models to support well-informed railway infrastructure asset management decisions. The models are built using the Petri Net formalism and are analysed by a means of Monte Carlo simulations. A specific example of the railway superstructure model is presented. Its simulation results demonstrate the superiority of the system-wide model against individual asset models in terms of its accuracy in predicting the superstructure (system) performance and information available to support asset management decisions. Furthermore, by using the multi-asset system model interdependencies among maintenance regimes of different assets and different parts of the infrastructure can be modelled

Second Workshop on Practical Use of Coloured Petri Nets and Design/CPN.

This report contains the proceedings of the Second Workshop on Practical Use of Coloured Petri Nets and Design/CPN, October 13-15, 1999. The workshop was organised by the CPN group at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. The individual papers are available in electronic form via the web pages: http://www.daimi.au.dk/CPnets/workshop99

Network coarsening dynamics in a plasmodial slime mould: Modelling and experiments

The giant unicellular slime mould Physarum polycephalum forms an extended network of stands (veins) that provide for an effective intracellular transportation system, which coarsens in time. The network coarsening was investigated numerically using an agent-based model and the results were compared to experimental observations. The coarsening process of both numerical and experimental networks was characterised by analyses of the kinetics of coarsening, of the distributions of geometric network parameters (as, for instance, the lengths and widths of vein segments) and of network topologies