Adaptation of the simulated annealing optimization algorithm to achieve improved near-optimum objective function values and computation times for multiple component manufacture

The paper concerns the development of the Simulated Annealing Algorithm (SAA) for the sequencing of cutter tool movement in machine tools capable of manufacturing many components, located on a box-like jig/pallet, in a single setting using a multiple tool magazine. The objective of the SAA is to minimise the total machine tool residence time. The general SAA has been enhanced, to achieve lower values of the objective function during the iterative scheme, and hence improve solution accuracy; and, to reduce computation time by cessation of the iterative scheme when no further improvement in the objective function occurs. The reconfigured SAA has been evaluated using a number of case studies. The results show that a reduction in the objective function value can be achieved in up to 6%, with far less computational effort. In addition, it is shown that the computation time can be reduced by a factor of between 20% and 72%. The improvement in the objective function value and the computational speed depends on the complexity of the problem posed to the SAA software. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.