Optimization Of Quay Crane Scheduling In Container Terminal Constrained By Stability Of Vessels

More and more attention has been paid to container transportationbecause of its high loading and discharging efficiency as well as its hightransport quality since1960s. As a result, the container terminalsexperienced a period of great development. Quay crane is the keyresource of loading and discharging tasks. Therefore, quay crane is theimportant factor influencing port’s financial benefits. Quay cranescheduling problem is the research topic of this thesis in which theopinion that stability condition of vessels should be taken intoconsideration during the production of a feasible schedule with themathematic model has been firstly proposed. The thesis investigates thequay crane scheduling problem based on this newly proposed constraint.A mixed integer linear programming model has been developed withthe incorporation of stability of vessels. The important meaning andworking mechanism of the new constraint has been analyzed as a keypoint. Next, genetic algorithm with heuristic rules has been designed to solve the scheduling problem after the comparison of different kinds ofheuristic algorithms. Pros and cons of different kinds of decodingmethods have been investigated at the same time. At last,4sets of virtualcases which containes300instances have been designed and conducted toverify the model and algorithm proposed based on gradually-deepenedprinciple. The result of the comparison with mathematic programmingsoftware shows that the algorithm proposed in the thesis can solve thescheduling problem effectively and efficiently. In addition, the instancesindicate that encoding methodwith the heuristic rules, mathematic modelwith stability constraint and steady-state genetic algorithm are the bestcombination to solve the large size scheduling problem.In conclusion, thethesis is innovative and potentially applicatble.The constraint of stability of vessels can effectively avoid the defect thatthe existing models will sometimes bring about infeasible solutions andincrease the operation efficiency which makes the constraint worth beingreferred. Besides, the finding also has great value for the design anddevelopment of the automatic solving program in the practice.