Time-Cost Trade-off Optimization of Construction Projects using Teaching Learning Based Optimization

Accelerating the project schedule raises the total cost of the project and shall be efficient only up to a certain limit. A Time-Cost Trade-off Problem (TCTP) is utilized to detect the optimal set of time-cost alternatives to enhance the overall construction project benefit. In this study, to find a set of Pareto front solutions, a multi-objective optimization model which is based on the Teaching- Learning Based Optimization (TLBO) incorporated with the Modified Adaptive Weight Approach (MAWA), is proposed. Four examples of construction projects taken from the technical literature ranging from 7 to 63 activities are investigated to show the performance of the MAWA-TLBO. The results are compared with those obtained using previously proposed models considering the optimal or near optimal solutions. It was found that the MAWA-TLBO algorithm works effectively for the TCTP in construction engineering and management field.