Physics-inspired Metaheuristics for Construction Site Layout Planning Problem

Abstract

In the construction industry, material handling plays an important role. Finding proper locations for construction facilities not only can affect the expenses, but also it can impact on the process of handling of construction materials. Therefore, in order to supply engineering demands and materials, the construction site layout planning problem (CSLP) within a short-distance transportation is considered as an NP-hard problem. Thus, the researchers are extensively using metaheuristics in order to solve the construction site layout planning problems. This study presents a comparative study of ten physics-inspired metaheuristics with regard to their efficacy in how they can address a real construction site layout problem. In this vein, two case studies are examined in terms of the site layout planning. Finally, the findings reveal that Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA) and Thermal Exchange Optimization (TEO) have the ability to come up with better solutions, in comparison to other considered optimization algorithms.