Clustering search

This paper presents the Clustering Search (CS) as a new hybrid metaheuristic, which works in conjunction with other metaheuristics, managing the implementation of local search algorithms for optimization problems. Usually the local search is costly and should be used only in promising regions of the search space. The CS assists in the discovery of these regions by dividing the search space into clusters. The CS and its applications are reviewed and a case study for a problem of capacitated clustering is presented.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Universidade Federal do MaranhãoUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas EspaciaisUNIFESPSciEL

Hybrid evolutionary algorithm for the Capacitated Centered Clustering Problem

The Capacitated Centered Clustering Problem (CCCP) consists of defining a set of p groups with minimum dissimilarity on a network with n points. Demand values are associated with each point and each group has a demand capacity. The problem is well known to be NP-hard and has many practical applications. In this paper, the hybrid method Clustering Search (CS) is implemented to solve the CCCP. This method identifies promising regions of the search space by generating solutions with a metaheuristic, such as Genetic Algorithm, and clustering them into clusters that are then explored further with local search heuristics. Computational results considering instances available in the literature are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of CS. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved