Lower Bounds For Hierarchical Chinese Postman Problem

Authors

  • Purushothaman Damodaran Florida International University
  • Murali Krishnamurthi Northern Illinois University
  • Krishnaswami Srihari SUNY Binghamton

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23055/ijietap.2008.15.1.60

Keywords:

Arc routing problems, Chinese Postman Problem, Hierarchical Chinese Postman Problem, Snow removal planning, Lower bounds

Abstract

Arc routing problems aim at finding a least cost traversal on a network with or without additional constraints. The Hierarchical Chinese Postman Problem (HCPP) is an arc routing problem. HCPP is NP-hard and several heuristics have been developed to solve this problem. The Chinese Postman Problem (CPP) tour solution is a known lower bound for the HCPP. This paper presents a heuristic that will prescribe improved lower bounds for the HCPP when compared to the CPP solutions. Better lower bounds aid exact search methods, such as branch-and-bound, to find an optimal solution in a shorter run time. It can also be used to determine the quality of a heuristic solution. Several problem instances were generated to evaluate the proposed heuristic. Experimental results indicate that our lower bounds are better than the CPP solution for all the sample problems chosen.

Author Biographies

Purushothaman Damodaran, Florida International University

P

Murali Krishnamurthi, Northern Illinois University

Murali Krishnamurthi is Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Northern Illinois University. He received his B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Madras (India), M.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Ohio University and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University. His teaching and research interests include optimization techniques, system simulation, information systems, project management, engineering ethics, environmental management systems, and expert systems. He has received more than $2 million in sponsored project funding from federal, state, industry and professional society sources. He currently serves also as the Director of Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center at Northern Illinois University.

Krishnaswami Srihari, SUNY Binghamton

Krishnaswami (Hari) Srihari joined the State University of New York at Binghamton, New York in August 1988. He received his M.S. (1985) and Ph.D. (1988) in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. Dr.Srihari's research is focused on the electronics manufacturing domain. A recent review of his group indicated that he had received over 16 million dollars in external research funding for the past few years, has published over 325 research papers, and authored over 950 technical reports.Dr. Srihari is the Director of Watson Institute for Systems Excellence (WISE).

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Published

2022-02-24

How to Cite

Damodaran, P., Krishnamurthi, M., & Srihari, K. (2022). Lower Bounds For Hierarchical Chinese Postman Problem. International Journal of Industrial Engineering: Theory, Applications and Practice, 15(1), 36–44. https://doi.org/10.23055/ijietap.2008.15.1.60

Issue

Section

Operations Research