An effective hybrid algorithm for the problem of packing circles into a larger containing circle

Simulated annealing is a powerful stochastic search method, but it still has the disadvantage of blind search. Tabu search (TS) which can prevent cycling and enhance diversification, is an adaptive strategy based on tabu list. By reasonably combining simulated annealing with TS, an effective hybrid algorithm for the problem of packing circles into a larger containing circle is presented. Based on a special neighborhood and tabu strategy, some benchmark problem instances can be well solved by the presented hybrid algorithm, and the computational results can compete with the best literature results. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.