Differential Evolution Algorithms Solving a Multi-Objective, Source and Stage Location-Allocation Problem

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to develop algorithms using the Differential Evolution Algorithm (DE) to solve a multi-objective, sources and stages location-allocation problem. The development process starts from the design of a standard DE, then modifies the recombination process of the DE in order improve the efficiency of the standard DE. The modified algorithm is called modified DE. The proposed algorithms have been tested with one real case study (large size problem) and 2 randomly selected data sets (small and medium size problems). The computational results show that the modified DE gives better solutions and uses less computational time than the standard DE. The proposed heuristics can find solutions 0 to 3.56% different from the optimal solution in small test instances, while differences are 1.4-3.5% higher than that of the lower bound generated by optimization software in medium and large test instances, while using more than 99% less computational time than the optimization software.