Generating Optimal Disassembly Process Plans from AND/OR Relationships using a Hierarchical Genetic Algorithm

Abstract

A Hierarchical Genetic Algorithm (HGA) is presented which, not only successfully finds the optimal disassembly sequence – under a set of given criteria – using information derived from AND/OR relationships, but also reduces the problem size. Whilst many authors agree that AND/OR graphs are the most complete representation of Disassembly Process Plans (DPPs), few have generated optimal sequences from AND/OR information due to the rapid increase of solution paths. For complex systems having a natural hierarchical structure often the optimal solution can be missed, HGA overcomes this and has been proven to be faster and more accurate than traditional Genetic Algorithms.