A Hybrid Bat Algorithm for Process Planning Problem

Abstract

In CAPP, process planning (PP) involves two simultaneous tasks: operations selection and operations sequencing, which is difficult to be carried out to achieve the satisfied process plan. In this paper, a hybrid bat algorithm (BA) has been employed to solve PP problem. To apply BA in PP problem, a 2 x n matrix is proposed to represent the process plan solution. Some strategies of encoding, decoding, population initializing have been developed to adapt the BA algorithm to qualify to solve PP problem. To avoid local convergence, two local search strategies are incorporated into the standard BA. A modification for the local search of BA is executed to improve the bats’ movement. Two new operators for the different parts of the solution representation have been proposed to diversify the bat population. A simulation experiment has been carried out to verify the validity of the hybrid BA. The interesting results show the hybrid BA can generate the satisfactory solutions.