Abstract

Since the Simulated Annealing method was identified as a useful tool for solving optimization problems, several applications have been made in order to study its performance in various problems. This method is especially adequate for problems in which, it is not possible to represent the whole domain of solutions through a set of algebraic equations. In this study the constrained two-dimensional cutting problem is formulated and solved. The formulation of this problem is based on the mapping of a cutting pattern on a binary tree, facilitating the random generation of neighbor solutions. A rigorous numerical analysis establishing the best set of parameters to solve any instance of the problem is accomplished. Further, we present a set of comparative results with other methods that also permit a solution to the problem. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.