Three-Dimensional Packing by a Tabu Search Algorithm in Military Airlift Loading

This paper presents a algorithm for three-dimensional packing in military airlift loading. In this case, the design variables correspond to the sequential order in which the items are considered for packing, thereby zero collision between items is implicitly in the packing procedure, reducing the need for collision detection and overall computation effort. Furthermore, we optimize the layout of items within the cargoholds by taking into account the practical constraints, especially the center of gravity which differs from truck loading. This paper describes the airlift loading optimization model as well as its coding in tabu search. The algorithm is demonstrated on practical loading problems.