An integrated disaster relief model based on covering tour using hybrid Benders decomposition and variable neighborhood search: Application in the Iranian context

摘要

This research developed an integrated model for relief operations in critical situations. The model is aimed at minimizing the late arrival of relief vehicles that cross points en route to disaster locations. It locates temporary relief centers in affected areas and accordingly allocates and routes the first-aid commodities required by the centers. Vehicle routing in the model is underlain by the covering tour approach given that such method considerably increases the operational speed of a disaster logistics system, especially in terms of dispatching vehicles that carry essential commodities. Under the approach, vehicles pass through a small number of points where relief centers are established as temporary facilities. The model solves the issue of late arrival through hybrid benders decomposition and variable neighborhood search. The numerical results of application in Iran demonstrated the efficiency, quality, and speed of the proposed model.