Genetic algorithm for facilities layout problems based on slicing tree structure

The use of genetic algorithms to solve facility layout problems has gained popularity in recent years among researchers. A difficult requirement for the use of genetic algorithms in layout problems is an efficient method of coding the relevant features of a layout as a chromosome. The slicing tree structure has gained popularity in developing genetic algorithms for layout problems. However, previous implementations based on slicing tree structure mostly require repairing procedures to ensure that the chromosomes represent legal layouts after application of genetic operators. Some representations do not permit an exhaustive search. This paper reports on design, development and experimentation results of a new generic algorithm named (GA.FLP.STS), which always produces legal chromosomes without any need for repairing procedures. A penalty system was introduced to facilitate generating facilities with acceptable dimensions. (GA.STS.FLP) required insignificant processing times even for test problems of 100 facilities solved.