IMA Journal of Management Mathematics Advance Access originally published online on March 14, 2007
IMA Journal of Management Mathematics 2007 18(2):135-155; doi:10.1093/imaman/dpm010
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Variable neighbourhood search for redundancy allocation problems
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Yuan Ze University, No 135 Yuan-Tung Road, Chung-Li, Taoyuan County, Taiwan 320, Republic of China
** Email: ycliang{at}saturn.yzu.edu.tw
*** Email: s929512{at}mail.yzu.edu.tw
**** Email: s927522{at}mail.yzu.edu.tw
| Abstract |
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A variable neighbourhood search (VNS) algorithm has been developed to solve the redundancy allocation problem (RAP). The VNS method is perfectly suited to those combinatorial problems with potential neighbourhood structures, as in the case of the RAP. The most studied configuration of the RAP is a series system of s-independent k-out-of-n:G subsystems the so-called seriesparallel system. The RAP is to select the optimal combination and redundancy levels of components to meet system-level constraints. Two types of objectives are considered in this studysystem reliability maximization and system cost minimization. The VNS algorithm is tested on sets of benchmark problems and compared to the best heuristics in the literature such as tabu search, multiple weighted objective heuristic, ant colony optimization and genetic algorithm. Computational results show the advantages and benefits of VNS for solving both types of RAP while considering both solution quality and computational efficiency.
Keywords: variable neighbourhood search; redundancy allocation problem; seriesparallel system
Received on April 2006. accepted on 2 February 2007.