scholarly journals Tractable Approximation to Robust Nonlinear Production Frontier Problem

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Lei Wang ◽  
Xing Wang ◽  
Nan-jing Huang

Robust optimization is a rapidly developing methodology for handling optimization problems affected by the uncertain-but-bounded data perturbations. In this paper, we consider the nonlinear production frontier problem where the traditional expected linear cost minimization objective is replaced by one that explicitly addresses cost variability. We propose a robust counterpart for the nonlinear production frontier problem that preserves the computational tractability of the nominal problem. We also provide a guarantee on the probability that the robust solution is feasible when the uncertain coefficients obey independent and identically distributed normal distributions.

Author(s):  
Amir Ardestani-Jaafari ◽  
Erick Delage

In this article, we discuss an alternative method for deriving conservative approximation models for two-stage robust optimization problems. The method mainly relies on a linearization scheme employed in bilinear programming; therefore, we will say that it gives rise to the linearized robust counterpart models. We identify a close relation between this linearized robust counterpart model and the popular affinely adjustable robust counterpart model. We also describe methods of modifying both types of models to make these approximations less conservative. These methods are heavily inspired by the use of valid linear and conic inequalities in the linearization process for bilinear models. We finally demonstrate how to employ this new scheme in location-transportation and multi-item newsvendor problems to improve the numerical efficiency and performance guarantees of robust optimization.


Author(s):  
Eliot Rudnick-Cohen ◽  
Jeffrey W. Herrmann ◽  
Shapour Azarm

Feasibility robust optimization techniques solve optimization problems with uncertain parameters that appear only in their constraint functions. Solving such problems requires finding an optimal solution that is feasible for all realizations of the uncertain parameters. This paper presents a new feasibility robust optimization approach involving uncertain parameters defined on continuous domains without any known probability distributions. The proposed approach integrates a new sampling-based scenario generation scheme with a new scenario reduction approach in order to solve feasibility robust optimization problems. An analysis of the computational cost of the proposed approach was performed to provide worst case bounds on its computational cost. The new proposed approach was applied to three test problems and compared against other scenario-based robust optimization approaches. A test was conducted on one of the test problems to demonstrate that the computational cost of the proposed approach does not significantly increase as additional uncertain parameters are introduced. The results show that the proposed approach converges to a robust solution faster than conventional robust optimization approaches that discretize the uncertain parameters.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Lei Wang ◽  
Hong Luo

We consider the linear programming problem with uncertainty set described byp,w-norm. We suggest that the robust counterpart of this problem is equivalent to a computationally convex optimization problem. We provide probabilistic guarantees on the feasibility of an optimal robust solution when the uncertain coefficients obey independent and identically distributed normal distributions.


4OR ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard J. Woeginger

AbstractWe survey optimization problems that allow natural simple formulations with one existential and one universal quantifier. We summarize the theoretical background from computational complexity theory, and we present a multitude of illustrating examples. We discuss the connections to robust optimization and to bilevel optimization, and we explain the reasons why the operational research community should be interested in the theoretical aspects of this area.


2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-569
Author(s):  
Nicolas Kämmerling ◽  
Jannis Kurtz

Abstract In this work we study binary two-stage robust optimization problems with objective uncertainty. We present an algorithm to calculate efficiently lower bounds for the binary two-stage robust problem by solving alternately the underlying deterministic problem and an adversarial problem. For the deterministic problem any oracle can be used which returns an optimal solution for every possible scenario. We show that the latter lower bound can be implemented in a branch and bound procedure, where the branching is performed only over the first-stage decision variables. All results even hold for non-linear objective functions which are concave in the uncertain parameters. As an alternative solution method we apply a column-and-constraint generation algorithm to the binary two-stage robust problem with objective uncertainty. We test both algorithms on benchmark instances of the uncapacitated single-allocation hub-location problem and of the capital budgeting problem. Our results show that the branch and bound procedure outperforms the column-and-constraint generation algorithm.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 1075-1101 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Dinh ◽  
T. H. Mo ◽  
G. Vallet ◽  
M. Volle

Author(s):  
Weijun Wang ◽  
Stéphane Caro ◽  
Fouad Bennis ◽  
Oscar Brito Augusto

For Multi-Objective Robust Optimization Problem (MOROP), it is important to obtain design solutions that are both optimal and robust. To find these solutions, usually, the designer need to set a threshold of the variation of Performance Functions (PFs) before optimization, or add the effects of uncertainties on the original PFs to generate a new Pareto robust front. In this paper, we divide a MOROP into two Multi-Objective Optimization Problems (MOOPs). One is the original MOOP, another one is that we take the Robustness Functions (RFs), robust counterparts of the original PFs, as optimization objectives. After solving these two MOOPs separately, two sets of solutions come out, namely the Pareto Performance Solutions (PP) and the Pareto Robustness Solutions (PR). Make a further development on these two sets, we can get two types of solutions, namely the Pareto Robustness Solutions among the Pareto Performance Solutions (PR(PP)), and the Pareto Performance Solutions among the Pareto Robustness Solutions (PP(PR)). Further more, the intersection of PR(PP) and PP(PR) can represent the intersection of PR and PP well. Then the designer can choose good solutions by comparing the results of PR(PP) and PP(PR). Thanks to this method, we can find out the optimal and robust solutions without setting the threshold of the variation of PFs nor losing the initial Pareto front. Finally, an illustrative example highlights the contributions of the paper.


2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Weijun Wang ◽  
Stéphane Caro ◽  
Fouad Bennis ◽  
Ricardo Soto ◽  
Broderick Crawford

Toward a multi-objective optimization robust problem, the variations in design variables (DVs) and design environment parameters (DEPs) include the small variations and the large variations. The former have small effect on the performance functions and/or the constraints, and the latter refer to the ones that have large effect on the performance functions and/or the constraints. The robustness of performance functions is discussed in this paper. A postoptimality sensitivity analysis technique for multi-objective robust optimization problems (MOROPs) is discussed, and two robustness indices (RIs) are introduced. The first one considers the robustness of the performance functions to small variations in the DVs and the DEPs. The second RI characterizes the robustness of the performance functions to large variations in the DEPs. It is based on the ability of a solution to maintain a good Pareto ranking for different DEPs due to large variations. The robustness of the solutions is treated as vectors in the robustness function space (RF-Space), which is defined by the two proposed RIs. As a result, the designer can compare the robustness of all Pareto optimal solutions and make a decision. Finally, two illustrative examples are given to highlight the contributions of this paper. The first example is about a numerical problem, whereas the second problem deals with the multi-objective robust optimization design of a floating wind turbine.


2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Hu ◽  
M. Li ◽  
S. Azarm ◽  
A. Almansoori

Many engineering optimization problems are multi-objective, constrained and have uncertainty in their inputs. For such problems it is desirable to obtain solutions that are multi-objectively optimum and robust. A robust solution is one that as a result of input uncertainty has variations in its objective and constraint functions which are within an acceptable range. This paper presents a new approximation-assisted MORO (AA-MORO) technique with interval uncertainty. The technique is a significant improvement, in terms of computational effort, over previously reported MORO techniques. AA-MORO includes an upper-level problem that solves a multi-objective optimization problem whose feasible domain is iteratively restricted by constraint cuts determined by a lower-level optimization problem. AA-MORO also includes an online approximation wherein optimal solutions from the upper- and lower-level optimization problems are used to iteratively improve an approximation to the objective and constraint functions. Several examples are used to test the proposed technique. The test results show that the proposed AA-MORO reasonably approximates solutions obtained from previous MORO approaches while its computational effort, in terms of the number of function calls, is significantly reduced compared to the previous approaches.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (14) ◽  
pp. 2811
Author(s):  
Choi ◽  
Yun ◽  
Kim ◽  
Jin ◽  
Kim

Real wars involve a considerable number of uncertainties when determining firing scheduling. This study proposes a robust optimization model that considers uncertainties in wars. In this model, parameters that are affected by enemy’s behavior and will, i.e., threats from enemy targets and threat time from enemy targets, are assumed as uncertain parameters. The robust optimization model considering these parameters is an intractable model with semi-infinite constraints. Thus, this study proposes an approach to obtain a solution by reformulating this model into a tractable problem; the approach involves developing a robust optimization model using the scenario concept and finding a solution in that model. Here, the combinations that express uncertain parameters are assumed by scenarios. This approach divides problems into master and subproblems to find a robust solution. A genetic algorithm is utilized in the master problem to overcome the complexity of global searches, thereby obtaining a solution within a reasonable time. In the subproblem, the worst scenarios for any solution are searched to find the robust solution even in cases where all scenarios have been expressed. Numerical experiments are conducted to compare robust and nominal solutions for various uncertainty levels to verify the superiority of the robust solution.


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