A new exact solution algorithm for a novel generalized redundancy allocation problem

The traditional redundancy allocation problem (RAP) aims to determine a system structure that strikes an appropriate balance between series and parallel components and that maximizes reliability by using redundant components in parallel, thus satisfying resource consumption constraints. The RAP is a well-known NP-hard problem and has been an active area of research for the past four decades. By extending the series-parallel structure to a more general network structure, this paper proposes a novel RAP called the generalized RAP (GRAP). To reduce the computational burden in solving this intractable GRAP, a new algorithm, called the hybrid swarm optimization (HSO), is proposed. The HSO combines concepts from simplified swarm optimization (SSO), particle swarm optimization (PSO), simulated annealing, and network reliability methods. The paper presents designed experiments and computational studies that demonstrate the potential of using the proposed HSO for the GRAP instead of using the genetic algorithm, PSO, or SSO.