Numerical method for impulse control of Piecewise Deterministic Markov Processes

This paper presents a numerical method to calculate the value function for a general discounted impulse control problem for piecewise deterministic Markov processes. Our approach is based on a quantization technique for the underlying Markov chain defined by the post jump location and inter-arrival time. Convergence results are obtained and more importantly we are able to give a convergence rate of the algorithm. The paper is illustrated by a numerical example.Comment: This work was supported by ARPEGE program of the French National Agency of Research (ANR), project "FAUTOCOES", number ANR-09-SEGI-00

Numerical method for expectations of piecewise-determistic Markov processes

We present a numerical method to compute expectations of functionals of a piecewise-deterministic Markov process. We discuss time dependent functionals as well as deterministic time horizon problems. Our approach is based on the quantization of an underlying discrete-time Markov chain. We obtain bounds for the rate of convergence of the algorithm. The approximation we propose is easily computable and is flexible with respect to some of the parameters defining the problem. Two examples illustrate the paper.Comment: 41 page

Nonparametric estimation of the conditional distribution of the inter-jumping times for piecewise-deterministic Markov processes

This paper presents a nonparametric method for estimating the conditional density associated to the jump rate of a piecewise-deterministic Markov process. In our framework, the estimation needs only one observation of the process within a long time interval. Our method relies on a generalization of Aalen's multiplicative intensity model. We prove the uniform consistency of our estimator, under some reasonable assumptions related to the primitive characteristics of the process. A simulation example illustrates the behavior of our estimator

Experimental investigation on the dynamic characteristics and transverse vibration instabilities of transmission belts

Serpentine belt drives are often used in front end accessory drive of automotive engine. Dynamic characteristics of belts play an important role in the behavior of such transmission and are inputs of simulation software. Moreover, free belt spans exhibit transverse vibration non linear instabilities. An experimental investigation is conducted on multi-ribbed belts, first for the determination of longitudinal stiffness and damping, bending rigidity, then to highlight the belt span transverse instabilities. An experimental set-up has been designed, it enables ,the observation and analysis of instabilities of belt spans axially excited, the determination of instability chart