A Hybrid Discrete Differential Evolution Algorithm to Solve the Split Delivery Vehicle Routing Problem

Abstract

For the split delivery vehicle routing problem in the distribution link of logistics where the optimization objective is to minimize the total distance of the transportation path, a hybrid discrete differential evolution (HDDE) algorithm is adopted in this study. The algorithm applies the encoding and decoding method based on the remaining vehicle capacity to split the demand of customer point and adjust the splitting node to the optimal position of its path. In order to avoid the prematurity of the algorithm, the perturbation mechanism is added, i.e., the three-point insertion method is used in the crossover stage. To ensure the higher quality of the solution, the idea of tabu search is introduced in three cases: initial population generation, selection operation and local optimal situation. Finally, through the numerical experiments based on benchmark data, the HDDE algorithm is compared with other competitive algorithms to demonstrate its domination.