System dynamics representation of catastrophe and its application to transportation

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dc.contributor.authorQin, Jiefengen
dc.contributor.departmentCivil Engineeringen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T21:35:33Zen
dc.date.adate2010-05-04en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T21:35:33Zen
dc.date.issued1992en
dc.date.rdate2010-05-04en
dc.date.sdate2010-05-04en
dc.description.abstractFor a long time mathematicians have been developing a number of theorems that seek to establish general structural and behavioral characteristics of dynamic systems. Most of these techniques based on calculus have been designed for the study of continuous phenomena. Hence they are ineffective to deals with discontinuous or divergent behaviors. Catastrophe theory, when applied to scientific problems, deal with the properties of discontinuities directly without reference to any specific underlying mechanism. It is especially suited to the study of systems in which the only reliable observations are of the discontinuities. System dynamics, introduced by professor Jay W. Forrester in the early 1960's, is used to represent general, complex dynamic systems. It focuses on the structure and behavior of systems composed of interacting feedback loops. The nature of its approach to modeling shares many common points with catastrophe theory. Particularly, both are used to seek to develop fruitful simplifications of a complex reality. The purposes of this thesis, therefore, are: first, to offer a qualitative as well as a quantitative description of catastrophe theory, as this theory is not very familiar to many people; secondly, to present the relationship between catastrophe theory and system dynamics; and thirdly, to apply these theorem to urban transportation planning.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.format.extentvi, 75 leavesen
dc.format.mediumBTDen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.otheretd-05042010-020251en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05042010-020251/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/42481en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartLD5655.V855_1992.Q246.pdfen
dc.relation.isformatofOCLC# 26088364en
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subject.lccLD5655.V855 1992.Q246en
dc.subject.lcshDisasters -- Mathematical modelsen
dc.subject.lcshSystem failures (Engineering)en
dc.subject.lcshTransportation -- Mathematical modelsen
dc.titleSystem dynamics representation of catastrophe and its application to transportationen
dc.typeThesisen
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
thesis.degree.disciplineCivil Engineeringen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

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