{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/42481"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/42481","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"System dynamics representation of catastrophe and its application to transportation","abstract":"For 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.","abstract_html":"For 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.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Qin, Jiefeng"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Civil Engineering","degree_department":"Civil Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1992,"date_issued":"1992","date_published":"1992","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:19Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en"],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-05042010-020251"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-05042010-020251","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/42481","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Civil Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Qin, Jiefeng"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T21:35:33Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T21:35:33Z","2010-05-04"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1992"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.dcmitype","label":"Dc Type Dcmitype","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Civil Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-05042010-020251"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/42481"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["For 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."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["BTD"]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["System dynamics representation of catastrophe and its application to transportation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.department":["Civil Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Qin, Jiefeng"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T21:35:33Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T21:35:33Z","2010-05-04"],"dc:date.issued":["1992"],"dc:description.abstract":["For 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."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:format.medium":["BTD"],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.other":["etd-05042010-020251"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/42481"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:title":["System dynamics representation of catastrophe and its application to transportation"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.dcmitype":["Text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Civil Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:19Z"}