R. Al-Shalabi and Y.H.F. Jbara (Jordan)
Ant Colony, Pipe Distribution Network, Continuos
Recently [1] presented a new heuristic optimization approach, called 2D-3D Continuous Ant Colony Approach (2D-3D-CACA), based on Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm for solving 3D continuous real world space problems. Ant colony algorithms are a subset of swarm intelligence and consider the ability of simple ants to solve complex problems by cooperation. The proposed approach has been successfully used to optimize the path generation, cost estimation and road construction problem in 3D real world search space and has captured successfully the essence of the 3D problem structure. This paper presents an application of 2D-3D-CACA to solve the pipe distribution network optimization problem. To be clear, all previous attempts have been focused on discrete nature of pipe distribution network, where network elements positions are fixed and known in prior. This paper provides an initial study for the use of 2D-3D-CACA in solving pipe distribution network problems in 3D continuous search spaces. Herein, the positions of network elements are not known in advance, except some initial starting points. The optimization of pipe distribution networks designs are complex, multi-modal problems that cannot be easily solved with conventional optimization algorithms. The problem is formulated as a constrained multiple-objective optimization problem. One example of Pipe network optimization is internal water distribution network design (WDND) optimization. Water distribution network design (WDNDs) is costly infrastructure, and much attention has been given to the application of optimization methods to minimize design costs. Herein, the application of the 2D-3D-CACA to water network design optimization is considered. In this paper, a mathematical formulation is developed which enables 2D-3D-CACA to be used for the optimal design of WDN and thus to obtain the least cost design of the network. The 2D-3D-CACA has been used to determine the minimum cost of the water network system taking into consideration some design criteria (pipes lengths, no. of rounds,….). Although, the paper presents an initial study and investigation of the possibilities offered by 2D-3D-CACA to optimize pipe distribution network design, preliminary simulation results on three 3D artificial models show that the proposed evolutionary optimization algorithm is efficient and suitable for any generalized pipe distribution network design in 3D continuous search space.
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