A P-hub median network design problem with preventive reliability approach for before and after hub failure

摘要

Hubs are vital elements of communication and transportation networks and play an important role in interchanging the flows of information/passenger/goods. For this purpose, designing a highly reliable hub network is very critical, because inefficiency of even a single hub across the network tends to reduce the efficiency of the whole network in transferring the flow appropriately. In this research, a bi-objective mathematical model was designed to study the situations before and after hub failure. Considering reliability, the first objective was to maximize the flow through the network, and the second objective was to prevent wasting the flow due to a possible hub failure. The lexicographic method was used to solve this multi-objective problem with dependent objectives. This method represents an appropriate solution for problems whose objective functions are of different priorities or depend on one another. Various cases of different sizes were used to evaluate the model in terms of reliability. Since the hub location problem is an NP-Hard problem of commonly large dimensions, a hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm called memetic algorithm was used to have it solved. The algorithm was a combination of genetic algorithm with simulated annealing algorithm, where simulated annealing algorithm was used for local neighborhood search. Findings indicated that, consideration of the backup hub tends to enhance route reliability, thereby increasing the flow through the network, as compared to the case with no backup hub.