Multi-objective ant colony optimization for the twin-screw configuration problem

Abstract

The twin-screw configuration problem (TSCP) consists of identifying the best location of a set of available screw elements along a screw shaft. Owing to its combinatorial nature, it can be seen as a sequencing problem. In addition, different conflicting objectives may have to be considered when defining a screw configuration and, thus, it is usually tackled as a multi-objective optimization problem. In this research, a multi-objective ant colony optimization (MOACO) algorithm was adapted to deal with the TSCP. The influence of different parameters of the MOACO algorithm was studied and its performance was compared with that of a previously proposed multi-objective evolutionary algorithm and a two-phase local search algorithm. The experimental results showed that MOACO algorithms have a significant potential for solving the TSCP.

Keywords:

• multiple objectives
• ant colony optimization
• evolutionary algorithms
• polymer extrusion
• twin-screw configuration

Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia under PhD grant SFRH/BD/21921/2005. Thomas Stützle acknowledges support of the Belgian F.R.S-FNRS of which he is a research associate, the E-SWARM project, funded by an ERC Advanced Grant, and by the Meta-X project, funded by the Scientific Research Directorate of the French Community of Belgium.