scholarly journals Optimal Torpedo Scheduling

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 ◽  
pp. 955-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Goldwaser ◽  
Andreas Schutt

We consider the torpedo scheduling problem in steel production, which is concerned with the transport of hot metal from a blast furnace to an oxygen converter. A schedule must satisfy, amongst other considerations, resource capacity constraints along the path and the locations traversed as well as the sulfur level of the hot metal. The goal is first to minimize the number of torpedo cars used during the planning horizon and second to minimize the time spent desulfurizing the hot metal. We propose an exact solution method based on Logic based Benders Decomposition using Mixed-Integer and Constraint Programming, which optimally solves and proves, for the first time, the optimality of all instances from the ACP Challenge 2016 within 10 minutes. In addition, we adapted our method to handle large-scale instances and instances with a more general rail network. This adaptation optimally solved all challenge instances within one minute and was able to solve instances of up to 100,000 hot metal pickups.

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (7) ◽  
pp. 3051-3068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Baena ◽  
Jordi Castro ◽  
Antonio Frangioni

The cell-suppression problem (CSP) is a very large mixed-integer linear problem arising in statistical disclosure control. However, CSP has the typical structure that allows application of the Benders decomposition, which is known to suffer from oscillation and slow convergence, compounded with the fact that the master problem is combinatorial. To overcome this drawback, we present a stabilized Benders decomposition whose master is restricted to a neighborhood of successful candidates by local-branching constraints, which are dynamically adjusted, and even dropped, during the iterations. Our experiments with synthetic and real-world instances with up to 24,000 binary variables, 181 million (M) continuous variables, and 367M constraints show that our approach is competitive with both the current state-of-the-art code for CSP and the Benders implementation in CPLEX 12.7. In some instances, stabilized Benders provided a very good solution in less than 1 minute, whereas the other approaches found no feasible solution in 1 hour. This paper was accepted by Yinyu Ye, optimization.


this paper evaluates combination of DE algorithm and benders decomposition theorem of VMG is used to solving the large scale mixed integer programming problems. DE algorithm is implemented in Village area Micro grids. Village area micro grid and the required load is calculated regarding the sold out power or purchase power with the help of DE algorithm. Differential evolution algorithm is applied in the village area micro grid and measure the real power, reactive power of various power plants. . In this DE algorithm is implemented in village area micro grid and the survey period is two years. Final survey shows which month produce more power and sold out power in nearest city area electricity board, But in power shortage in village area micro grid ,it purchase the power from nearest electricity board.DE algorithm determine the one month power survey and benders decomposition determine the individual value of the power plants. But the benders decomposition theorem is not accept the non linearity items. To overcome this problem BDCT and DEA is implemented in village area micro grid. This combination is used to maintain the drop out voltage of any power plants.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 526-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohsen Sadeghi-Dastaki ◽  
Abbas Afrazeh

Purpose Human resources are one of the most important and effective elements for companies. In other words, employees are a competitive advantage. This issue is more vital in the supply chains and production systems, because of high need for manpower in the different specification. Therefore, manpower planning is an important, essential and complex task. The purpose of this paper is to present a manpower planning model for production departments. The authors consider workforce with individual and hierarchical skills with skill substitution in the planning. Assuming workforce demand as a factor of uncertainty, a two-stage stochastic model is proposed. Design/methodology/approach To solve the proposed mixed-integer model in the real-world cases and large-scale problems, a Benders’ decomposition algorithm is introduced. Some test instances are solved, with scenarios generated by Monte Carlo method. For some test instances, to find the number of suitable scenarios, the authors use the sample average approximation method and to generate scenarios, the authors use Latin hypercube sampling method. Findings The results show a reasonable performance in terms of both quality and solution time. Finally, the paper concludes with some analysis of the results and suggestions for further research. Originality/value Researchers have attracted to other uncertainty factors such as costs and products demand in the literature, and have little attention to workforce demand as an uncertainty factor. Furthermore, most of the time, researchers assume that there is no difference between the education level and skill, while they are not necessarily equivalent. Hence, this paper enters these elements into decision making.


Author(s):  
Abdulkader S. Hanbazazah ◽  
Luis E. Abril ◽  
Nazrul I. Shaikh ◽  
Murat Erkoc

The growth in online shopping and third-party logistics has caused a revival of interest in finding optimal solutions to the large-scale, in-transit freight consolidation problem. Given the shipment date, size, origin, destination, and due dates of multiple shipments distributed over space and time, the problem requires determining when to consolidate some of these shipments into one shipment at an intermediate consolidation point so as to minimize shipping costs while satisfying the due date constraints. In this article, the authors develop a mixed-integer programming formulation for a multi-period freight consolidation problem that involves multiple products, suppliers, and potential consolidation points. Benders decomposition is then used to replace a large number of integer freight-consolidation variables by a small number of continuous variables that reduce the size of the problem without impacting optimality. The results show that Benders decomposition provides a significant scale-up in the performance of the solver. The authors demonstrate their approach using a large-scale case with more than 27.5 million variables and 9.2 million constraints.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostafa Ekhtiari ◽  
Shahab Poursafary

It has been always critical and inevitable to select and assess the appropriate and efficient vendors for the companies such that all the aspects and factors leading to the importance of the select process should be considered. This paper studies the process of selecting the vendors simultaneously in three aspects of multiple criteria, random factors, and reaching efficient solutions with the objective of improvement. Thus, selecting the vendors is introduced in the form of a mixed integer multiobjective stochastic problem and for the first time it is converted by CCGC (min-max) model to a mixed integer nonlinear single objective deterministic problem. As the converted problem is nonlinear and solving it in large scale will be time-consuming then the artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm is used to solve it. Also, in order to better understand ABC efficiency, a comparison is performed between this algorithm and the particle swarm optimization (PSO) and the imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA) and Lingo software output. The results obtained from a real example show that ABC offers more efficient solutions to the problem solving in large scale and PSO spends less time to solve the same problem.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiling Fu ◽  
Lei Nie ◽  
Benjamin R. Sperry ◽  
Zhenhuan He

Among the most commonly used methods of scheduling train stops are practical experience and various “one-step” optimal models. These methods face problems of direct transferability and computational complexity when considering a large-scale high-speed rail (HSR) network such as the one in China. This paper introduces a two-stage approach for train stop scheduling with a goal of efficiently organizing passenger traffic into a rational train stop pattern combination while retaining features of regularity, connectivity, and rapidity (RCR). Based on a three-level station classification definition, a mixed integer programming model and a train operating tactics descriptive model along with the computing algorithm are developed and presented for the two stages. A real-world numerical example is presented using the Chinese HSR network as the setting. The performance of the train stop schedule and the applicability of the proposed approach are evaluated from the perspective of maintaining RCR.


2013 ◽  
Vol 221 (3) ◽  
pp. 190-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg-Tobias Kuhn ◽  
Thomas Kiefer

Several techniques have been developed in recent years to generate optimal large-scale assessments (LSAs) of student achievement. These techniques often represent a blend of procedures from such diverse fields as experimental design, combinatorial optimization, particle physics, or neural networks. However, despite the theoretical advances in the field, there still exists a surprising scarcity of well-documented test designs in which all factors that have guided design decisions are explicitly and clearly communicated. This paper therefore has two goals. First, a brief summary of relevant key terms, as well as experimental designs and automated test assembly routines in LSA, is given. Second, conceptual and methodological steps in designing the assessment of the Austrian educational standards in mathematics are described in detail. The test design was generated using a two-step procedure, starting at the item block level and continuing at the item level. Initially, a partially balanced incomplete item block design was generated using simulated annealing, whereas in a second step, items were assigned to the item blocks using mixed-integer linear optimization in combination with a shadow-test approach.


Author(s):  
Seán Damer

This book seeks to explain how the Corporation of Glasgow, in its large-scale council house-building programme in the inter- and post-war years, came to reproduce a hierarchical Victorian class structure. The three tiers of housing scheme which it constructed – Ordinary, Intermediate, and Slum-Clearance – effectively signified First, Second and Third Class. This came about because the Corporation uncritically reproduced the offensive and patriarchal attitudes of the Victorian bourgeoisie towards the working-class. The book shows how this worked out on the ground in Glasgow, and describes the attitudes of both authoritarian housing officials, and council tenants. This is the first time the voice of Glasgow’s council tenants has been heard. The conclusion is that local council housing policy was driven by unapologetic considerations of social class.


2020 ◽  
Vol 501 (1) ◽  
pp. L71-L75
Author(s):  
Cornelius Rampf ◽  
Oliver Hahn

ABSTRACT Perturbation theory is an indispensable tool for studying the cosmic large-scale structure, and establishing its limits is therefore of utmost importance. One crucial limitation of perturbation theory is shell-crossing, which is the instance when cold-dark-matter trajectories intersect for the first time. We investigate Lagrangian perturbation theory (LPT) at very high orders in the vicinity of the first shell-crossing for random initial data in a realistic three-dimensional Universe. For this, we have numerically implemented the all-order recursion relations for the matter trajectories, from which the convergence of the LPT series at shell-crossing is established. Convergence studies performed at large orders reveal the nature of the convergence-limiting singularities. These singularities are not the well-known density singularities at shell-crossing but occur at later times when LPT already ceased to provide physically meaningful results.


Author(s):  
Dingwang Huang ◽  
Kang Wang ◽  
Lintao Li ◽  
Kuang Feng ◽  
Na An ◽  
...  

3.17% efficient Cu2ZnSnS4–BiVO4 integrated tandem cell and a large scale 5 × 5 cm integrated CZTS–BiVO4 tandem device for standalone overall solar water splitting was assembled for the first time.


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