Combination of metaheuristic and exact algorithms for solving set covering-type optimization problems

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Abstract

We propose a new generic framework for solving combinatorial optimization problems that can be modeled as a set-covering problem. The proposed algorithmic framework combines meta-heuristics with exact algorithms through a guiding mechanism based on diversification and intensification decisions. After presenting this generic framework, we extensively demonstrate its application to the vehicle routing problem with time windows. We then conduct a thorough computational study on a set of well-known test problems, where we show that the proposed approach not only finds solutions that are very close to the best-known solutions reported in the literature but also improves them. We finally set up an experimental design to analyze the effects of different parameters used in the proposed algorithm.

Available Versions of this Item

• Combination of Meta-Heuristics and Exact Algorithms for Solving Set-Covering Type Optimization Problems. (deposited 07 Nov 2008 16:41)
  • Combination of meta-heuristics and exact algorithms for solving set-covering type optimization problems. (deposited 04 Dec 2009 11:54)
    • Combination of metaheuristic and exact algorithms for solving set covering-type optimization problems. (deposited 06 Dec 2010 16:27) [Currently Displayed]