Simulation-based optimization on quay crane scheduling of container terminals

By applying the object-oriented simulation modeling method of discrete event system, this paper establishes an simulating model of container terminal operating system, including vessels, anchorages, berths, gantry cranes, internal and external container trucks and gate system. In order to solve the quay crane scheduling problem of container terminal, a lot of stochastic factors in the problem are taken into account. Simulation-based optimization (SBO) method is proposed to solve the problem. Genetic algorithm, particle swarm algorithm and simulated annealing algorithm are used respectively as the superior optimizer, and their application performance is compared and analyzed.