Optimal Flow Distribution of Military Supply Transportation Based on Network Analysis and Entropy Measurement

• Main Authors: Wei Zhou, Jin Chen, Bingqing Ding
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-06-01
• Series: Entropy
• Subjects: military supply; concealed transportation; flow distribution model; network analysis; entropy measurement
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/20/6/446

One important element of military supply transportation is concealment, especially during war preparations and warfare periods. By introducing entropy to calculate the transportation concealment degree, we investigate the issue about concealed military supply transportation on the whole road network and propose an optimal flow distribution model. This model’s objective function is to maximize the concealment of military supply transportation. After analyzing the road network, classifying different nodes, summarizing the constraint conditions based on the properties and assumptions in the transportation process, and combining the general parameter limits, the optimal flow distribution model is further transformed into a calculable non-linear programming model. Thus, based on this non-linear programming model, we can obtain the optimal distribution scheme of military supply transportation from the perspectives of network analysis and concealment measurement. Lastly, an example of military supply transportation in Jiangsu province, China is illustrated to prove the feasibility of the proposed model. The managerial implication is that by utilizing the proposed flow distribution model, military supplies can be efficiently transported to the required destinations based on maximizing the concealment degree. Not only this model can be utilized in the real military supply transportation, it can be also applied in other transportation fields which require time efficiency and concealment.