Skip to main content

Reasoning About Data: The Combination of Multiple and Non Homogeneous Sources of Knowledge

  • Conference paper
Expert Systems in Structural Safety Assessment

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Engineering ((LNENG,volume 53))

  • 191 Accesses

Abstract

In structural engineering critical is the combination of multiple and uncertain sources of knowledge. Commonly, these sources are any set of data, expert opinions, physical models or outcomes from instruments or techniques monitoring a particular event. Whilst the structure of the composition problem can differ from one case to another, we argue that a general pattern is preserved. Thus, the investigation and characterization of this pattern can help to highlight the nature of the dependencies between the different sources. The paper aims at presenting a rigorous and general approach to managing the imperfection of data. The proposed analysis is performed in the frame of the theory of fuzzy uncertainty measures. In fact, the expressiveness of these measures makes them suitable to represent a wide range of situations. In the paper we present two examples of application of the above analysis to real problems. The perspective of the analysis towards a knowledge engineering approach is emphasized.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. ASME Code, Section XI, 1974.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bonissone, P., Decker, K. S. (1986). ‘Selecting uncertainty calculi and granularity: an experiment in trading-off precision and complexity’. In Kanal and Lemmer (Eds.) Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence, Elsevier (1986).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bonissone, P. (1987). ‘Summarizing and propagating of uncertain information with triangular norms’.Int. J. Approx. Reasoning, 1, no. 1, pp. 71–101.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  4. Choquct, G. (1953). ‘Theory of capacities’. Ann. Institut Fourier. 5, 131–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Cohcn, P. R., Grinberg, M. R. (1983). ‘ Theory of Heuristics Reasoning about Uncertainty’. The AI magazine. 4, 2, 17–23.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Dubois, D., Prade, H. (1980). Fuzzy Sets and Systems: Theory and Application. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Dubois, D., Prade, H. (1982). ‘A class of fuzzy measures based on triangular norms. A general framework for the combination of uncertain information’. Int. J. General Systems. 8, 43–61.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  8. Dubois, D., Prade, H. (1983). ‘Unfair coins and necessity measures: Towards a possibilistic interpretation of histograms’. Fuzzy Sets and Syst., 10, 15–20.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  9. Garribba, S., Servida, A. (1988). ‘Evidence aggregation in expert judgments’. In Bouchon, Saitta and Yager (Eds.): Uncertainty and Intelligent Systems, Springer-Verlag (1988).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Garribba, S., Servida, A., Volta, G. (1989). ‘Generalized structures for the composition of evidence’. Proceedings of the 3rd IFSA World Congress, Seattle, WA (USA), August 6–11, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Garribba, S., Lucia, A.C., Servida, A., Volta, G. (1988). ‘Fuzzy measures of uncertainty for evaluating non-destructive crack inspection’. Structural Safety.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Lesmo, L., Saitta, S., Torasso, P. (1985). ‘Evidence combination in Expert Systems’. Int. J. of Man-Machine Studies. 22, 307–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Servida, A. (1985). Applications of fuzzy logics to non destructive testing: a model for the interpretation of ultrasonic measurements. Doctoral thesis, School of engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, (in italian).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Servida, A. (1989). ‘Fuzzy uncertainty measures: a tutorial approach’. Proceeding of the Ispra Seminar on “Structural Reliability”, May 11–15, 1987, Reidel Publishing, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Shafer, G. (1976). A Mathematical Theory of Evidence. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  16. Sugeno, M., (1974). ‘Theory of fuzzy integrals and its applications. Ph.D. thesis. Tokio Institute of Technology, Japan.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Zadeh, L. A. (1965). ‘Fuzzy sets’. Information and Control. 8, 338–353.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  18. Zadeh, L. A. (1978). ‘Fuzzy sets as a basis for a theory of possibility’. Fuzzy Sets and Systems. 1, 3–28.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  19. Zadeh, L. A. (1979). ‘Fuzzy sets and information granularity’.In Gupta, Ragade, Yager (Eds.), Advances in Fuzzy Set Theory and Applications, 3–18, North Holland Publishing Co., NY, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1989 Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Servida, A. (1989). Reasoning About Data: The Combination of Multiple and Non Homogeneous Sources of Knowledge. In: Jovanović, A.S., Kussmaul, K.F., Lucia, A.C., Bonissone, P.P. (eds) Expert Systems in Structural Safety Assessment. Lecture Notes in Engineering, vol 53. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-83991-7_22

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-83991-7_22

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-51823-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-83991-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics