Multi-resource constrained discrete time/cost trade-off problem and its improved genetic algorithm

The discrete time/cost trade-off problem (DTCTP) only focuses on renewable or nonrenewable resource-constraints separately, this paper extends the DTCTP to a new multi-resource constrained discrete time/cost trade-off problem (MRCDTCTP), which involves multiple renewable and nonrenewable resource-constraints simultaneously. The objective is to minimize the project total cost under the contract duration, the total cost includes direct cost of renewable and nonrenewable resources, indirect cost, lateness penalty and earliness bonus. An improved genetic algorithm for solving MRCDTCTP is developed and its effectiveness is verified by making computation experiments. The results indicate both total cost and duration of project can be optimized, which is different from that in classical DTCTP. Conclusions from MRCDTCTP provide contractors with a new thinking view when they balance duration and cost of projects.