Disaster relief on destructive transportation networks using a circle-based approach

ABSTRACT

We formulate an integrated mathematical model for distribution of the injured on a three-type transportation network with destroyable independent links and with actual travel times considering two different groups of the injured. The aim is to find the temporary locations for aid stations and their capacities, the percentage of the injured with various severities allocated to each station and to different routes and the number of vehicles so that the total relief time is minimized. For this, we present a new approach, called circle-based approach, in which the effects of the disaster are considered as a number of concentric circular regions. The original problem is formulated as an integer nonlinear mathematical model. To solve large problems, two algorithms, an evolutionary algorithm based on simulated annealing and a discrete version of the imperialist competitive algorithm, are developed. An empirical study of the earthquakes in the city of Tehran, Iran, is conducted.

KEYWORDS:

• Multi-type transportation network
• grouped injured people
• circle-based approach
• actual travel times
• integrated mathematical model
• evolutionary algorithms

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF) for supporting this work under grant no. 94002371.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Iran National Science Foundation [94002371].