Scatter Search Algorrithm to Multiple Container Loading Problem

Container loading problem is a kind of constrained three-dimensional bin packing problem in transportation industry. Container loading problem is complex combinatorial optimization problem, and the problem is NP-hard. The multiple container loading problem considered in this paper considered loading multiple containers simultaneously. In the problem the cargoes loaded are strongly heterogeneous cargoes. According to the complexity and the characters of multiple container problem as knapsack loading problem with strongly heterogeneous cargoes, scatter search algorithm is designed to solve the problem. Scatter search is a kind of metaheuristic algorithm based on population evolution which has been successfully applied in many fields of combinatorial optimization. Multiple neighborhood structures are used in the proposed scatter search algorithm, so the search effective of the algorithm and the quality of the obtained solutions can be improved. The simulations based on ample numerical examples show the effectiveness of the algorithm.