TR-Dizin

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Browsing TR-Dizin by Author "Aminbakhsh, Saman"

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    Article
    Effects of Topological Structure of Project Network on Computational Cost
    (Golden Light Publ, 2024) Aminbakhsh, Saman; Department of Civil Engineering
    Understanding how network complexity affects optimization algorithms is crucial for improving computational efficiency. This study investigates how variations in network complexity impact the performance of optimization algorithms. By examining networks with different serial/parallel indicator (I2) values, the research uncovers several key insights into how topology influences computational requirements. The experiments show that higher I2 values, which are closer to serial configurations, heighten the problem's complexity. This study reveals that networks with lower I2 values, which exhibit steeper time-cost curves with fewer solutions over their efficient frontiers, require significantly more CPU time, indicating that project complexity does not necessarily scale with the extend of the Pareto fronts. This contradicts the expectation that more Pareto front solutions would inherently demand greater computational resources. Lastly, the study highlights that while the number of time-cost realizations is often used to gauge project complexity, it may not be conclusive on its own and that one complexity measure can outperform another. Although it can be an effective indicator, it does not fully capture the computational challenges posed by different network topologies. This study further acknowledges the difficulty in establishing a clear link between project performance and complexity due to the multifaceted nature of the problem. The findings suggest that exploring similar problems in other contexts could provide valuable insights into understanding and managing computational complexity.
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    Resource Allocation Capabilities of Commercial Project Management Software Packages for Resource Leveling and Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problems: a Comparative Study
    (Golden Light Publ, 2023) Albayati, Noor Hussein Farooq; Aminbakhsh, Saman; Civil Engineering
    In construction project management the critical path method (CPM) is the most used technique for project scheduling. Although this technique provides many advantages for project managers, it cannot efficiently deal with the allocation of the resources. Therefore, alternative techniques have been introduced to address resource allocation requirements of the projects. Of these techniques, Resource Leveling (RLP) aims to minimize the fluctuation in resource usage histograms while maintaining the duration obtained by CPM. Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (RCPSP), on the other hand, aims to secure the shortest CPM duration without violating the resource constraints. RLP and RCPSP are vital for effective utilization of project resources (e.g., manpower, machinery, and equipment) as they help precluding intermittent usage or over-allocation of the resources. Keeping the resource usage at a relatively constant level through RLP would result in a decrease in the overall project cost as the additional costs required to demobilize and remobilize the resources will be minimized. Shortening the makespan while meeting the resource constraints through RCPSP would lead to improved resource utilization and cost savings as well. The main objective of this study is, therefore, to analyze effectiveness and efficiency of the most widely used commercial project management software packages in solving resource allocation problems. To this end, the most recent versions - as per the date of this study - of three software packages, namely, Microsoft Project Professional 2019, Primavera P6 Professional 2019, and Asta Powerproject version 15.0.01.489 are examined. The performance of the practiced software is evaluated based on thirteen different priority rules over a set of problem instances available in the literature. The practiced problems include 640 instances providing a diverse combination of network complexity, activity number, and resource type number. Results obtained by the software for RCPSP are also compared with the solutions provided by the Serial Scheduling Scheme - a heuristic method. The findings of this study reveal that whilst all the three software packages manage to provide comparable results, Asta PowerProject transpire to be the all-round best performing method while Primavera sports the fastest leveling module. This study also sheds light on the challenges and practical hurdles to utilization of the aforementioned software for resource allocation purposes.