An optimal algorithm for selective disassembly sequencing with sequence-dependent set-ups in parallel disassembly environment

Abstract

This study considers selective disassembly sequencing in parallel disassembly environment in which two or more components can be removed by a single disassembly operation. The problem is to determine the sequence of disassembly operations to extract multiple target components while satisfying the precedence relations among disassembly operations. The objective is to minimise the sum of sequence-dependent set-up and operation costs. An integer programming model is developed after representing all possible disassembly sequences using an extended process graph, and then an optimal branch and bound algorithm is proposed that incorporates the methods to obtain the lower and upper bounds as well as a dominance property to reduce the search space. To show the performance of the algorithm, computational experiments are done on various random instances, and the results are reported. In particular, it is shown from the test results that the optimal algorithm requires much shorter computation times than a competitive commercial software package. Finally, a case is reported to illustrate the extended process graph and the solution algorithm.