Search results for "Branch and cut"
showing 10 items of 31 documents
A New Branch-and-Cut Algorithm for the Generalized Directed Rural Postman Problem
2016
The generalized directed rural postman problem, also known as the close-enough arc routing problem, is an arc routing problem with some interesting real-life applications, such as routing for meter reading. In this article we introduce two new formulations for this problem as well as various families of new valid inequalities that are used to design and implement a branch-and-cut algorithm. The computational results obtained on test bed instances from the literature show that this algorithm outperforms the existing exact methods
Branch-and-Cut for the Split Delivery Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows
2019
The split delivery vehicle routing problem with time windows (SDVRPTW) is a notoriously hard combinatorial optimization problem. First, it is hard to find a useful compact mixed-integer programming (MIP) formulation for the SDVRPTW. Standard modeling approaches either suffer from inherent symmetries (mixed-integer programs with a vehicle index) or cannot exactly capture all aspects of feasibility. Because of the possibility to visit customers more than once, the standard mechanisms to propagate load and time along the routes fail. Second, the lack of useful formulations has rendered any direct MIP-based approach impossible. Up to now, the most effective exact algorithms for the SDVRPTW hav…
Improved polyhedral descriptions and exact procedures for a broad class of uncapacitated p-hub median problems
2019
Abstract This work focuses on a broad class of uncapacitated p-hub median problems that includes non-stop services and setup costs for the network structures. In order to capture both the single and the multiple allocation patterns as well as any intermediate case of interest, we consider the so-called r-allocation pattern with r denoting the maximum number of hubs a terminal can be allocated to. We start by revisiting an optimization model recently proposed for the problem. For that model, we introduce several families of valid inequalities as well as optimality cuts. Moreover, we consider a relaxation of the model that contains several sets of set packing constraints. This motivates a pol…
The Split Delivery Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows and Customer Inconvenience Constraints
2019
In classical routing problems, each customer is visited exactly once. By contrast, when allowing split deliveries, customers may be served through multiple visits. This potentially results in substantial savings in travel costs. Even if split deliveries are beneficial to the transport company, several visits may be undesirable on the customer side: At each visit the customer has to interrupt his primary activities and handle the goods receipt. The contribution of the present paper consists in a thorough analysis of the possibilities and limitations of split delivery distribution strategies. To this end, we investigate two different types of measures for limiting customer inconvenience (a m…
Schedule-Based Integrated Intercity Bus Line Planning via Branch-and-Cut
2018
This work addresses integrated line planning for intercity bus lines, which differs in several respects from line planning in public transit. Passengers in intercity transportation decide on specific timetabled services to get to their destination. This is a contrast to an urban setting with higher frequencies, where it is generally sufficient to choose a line. Furthermore, intercity bus transportation in deregulated markets is usually characterized by fierce competition within and across modes. Customers are highly sensitive to price, time of day, duration, convenient access to stations, and service quality. Hence, bus line operators need to decide thoroughly on every single timetabled se…
The periodic rural postman problem with irregular services on mixed graphs
2019
Abstract In this paper, we deal with an extension of the rural postman problem in which some links of a mixed graph must be traversed a given number of times over a time horizon. These links represent entities that must be serviced a specified number of times in some subsets of days (or periods) of the time horizon. The aim is to design a set of minimum-cost tours, one for each day/period of the time horizon, that satisfy the service requirements. We refer to this problem as the periodic rural postman problem with irregular services (PRPP–IS). Some practical applications of the problem can be found in road maintenance operations and road network surveillance, for example. In order to solve …
Formulations and exact algorithms for the distance-constrained generalized directed rural postman problem
2017
[EN] The generalized directed rural postman problem is an arc routing problem with many interesting real-life applications, such as routing for meter reading. In this application, a vehicle with a receiver travels through a series of neighborhoods. If the vehicle gets closer than a certain distance to a meter, the receiver is able to record the gas, water, or electricity consumption. Therefore, the vehicle does not need to traverse every street, but only a few, to get close enough to each meter. We study an extension of this problem in which a fleet of vehicles is available. Given the characteristics of the mentioned application, the vehicles have no capacities but there is a maximum distan…
Branch-Price-and-Cut for the Soft-Clustered Capacitated Arc-Routing Problem
2021
The soft-clustered capacitated arc-routing problem (SoftCluCARP) is a variant of the classical capacitated arc-routing problem. The only additional constraint is that the set of required edges, that is, the streets to be serviced, is partitioned into clusters, and feasible routes must respect the soft-cluster constraint, that is, all required edges of the same cluster must be served by the same vehicle. In this article, we design an effective branch-price-and-cut algorithm for the exact solution of the SoftCluCARP. Its new components are a metaheuristic and branch-and-cut-based solvers for the solution of the column-generation subproblem, which is a profitable rural clustered postman tour …
A branch-and-cut algorithm for the Profitable Windy Rural Postman Problem
2016
[EN] In this paper we study the profitable windy rural postman problem. This is an arc routing problem with profits defined on a windy graph in which there is a profit associated with some of the edges of the graph, consisting of finding a route maximizing the difference between the total profit collected and the total cost. This problem generalizes the rural postman problem and other well-known arc routing problems and has real-life applications, mainly in snow removal operations. We propose here a formulation for the problem and study its associated polyhedron. Several families of facet-inducing inequalities are described and used in the design of a branch-and-cut procedure. The algorithm…
The Steiner Traveling Salesman Problem and its extensions
2019
Abstract This paper considers the Steiner Traveling Salesman Problem, an extension of the classical Traveling Salesman Problem on an incomplete graph where not all vertices have demand. Some extensions including several depots or location decisions are introduced, modeled and solved. A compact integer linear programming formulation is proposed for each problem, where the routes are represented with two-index decision variables, and parity conditions are modeled using cocircuit inequalities. Exact branch-and-cut algorithms are developed for all formulations. Computational results obtained confirm the good performance of the algorithms. Instances with up to 500 vertices are solved optimally.