Multiobjective Optimization of Time-Cost Trade-Off Using Harmony Search

Completing a project with minimal time as well as minimal cost is a critical factor for scheduling a project. However, because completion speed tends to be correlated with cost (e.g., usually, time can be saved if more workers are hired), the relationship between time and cost is a trade-off. This s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of construction engineering and management Vol. 136; no. 6; pp. 711 - 716
Main Author Geem, Zong Woo
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Reston, VA American Society of Civil Engineers 01.06.2010
Subjects
Applied sciences
Building economics. Cost
Buildings. Public works
Computation methods. Tables. Charts
Exact sciences and technology
Project management. Process of design
Structural analysis. Stresses
TECHNICAL NOTES
Time-cost trade-off problem
Costs
Project management
Multiobjective programming
Scheduling
Combinatorial optimization
Modeling
Optimization
Construction industry
Harmony search
Example
Project scheduling
Cost analysis
Critical path method
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Summary:Completing a project with minimal time as well as minimal cost is a critical factor for scheduling a project. However, because completion speed tends to be correlated with cost (e.g., usually, time can be saved if more workers are hired), the relationship between time and cost is a trade-off. This study employed a phenomenon-mimicking algorithm, harmony search to perform this biobjective trade-off. The harmony search algorithm was applied to two test examples, and good Pareto solutions were obtained when compared with other algorithms, such as the genetic algorithm and the ant colony optimization algorithm. The harmony search algorithm explored only a small amount of total solution space in order to solve this combinatorial optimization problem. The model in this study has obtained good results with a network of up to 18 nodes, however it is anticipated that the model could be useful to solve bigger networks in practice without any difficult problem.
ISSN:0733-9364
1943-7862
DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000167