A simulated annealing algorithm for the circles packing problem

Abstract

We present a heuristic simulated annealing algorithm to solve the circles packing problem. For constructing a special neighborhood and jumping out of the local minimum trap, some effective heuristic strategies are presented. These strategies are from nature and can allow the iterative process to converge fast. The HSA algorithm inherits the merit of the simulated annealing algorithm, and can avoid the disadvantage of blind search in the simulated annealing algorithm to some extent according to the special neighborhood. The computational results show that the performance of the presented algorithm outperforms that of the quasi-physical quasi-human algorithm. © Springer-Verlag 2004.