<p dir="ltr">The escalating frequency and impact of natural disasters have necessitated the study of Humanitarian Logistics (HL) optimization to mitigate human and financial losses. This dissertation encompasses three pivotal studies that collectively seek to address some of the numerous gaps identified in the nascent literature of HL optimization, particularly in conflict-ridden and low-security environments. The first study conducts a comprehensive survey on the application of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods in HL, identifying a significant gap between academic research and practical challenges, and highlighting underexplored areas within multicriteria optimization in HL. The second study introduces innovative deterministic and possibilistic models to improve the safety and security of humanitarian personnel by developing a vehicle routing model that minimizes the predictability of trips, a novel aspect in HL research. This includes the introduction of the Humanitarian Vehicle Routing Problem with Non-Routineness of Trips (HVRPNRT), creation of a unique index to measure trip routineness and the provision of an approximate closed-form solution for the aid allocation subproblem, and introduces a novel case study from the ongoing civil unrest in South Sudan. The third study presents a novel heuristic solution algorithm for the HVRPNRT, which is the first of its kind, and outperforms the commercial solver CPLEX on some instances. This algorithm offers near-optimal solutions with reduced computational times and maintains feasibility under stringent security conditions, thereby advancing the field of security-aware HL optimization. Collectively, these studies offer significant contributions to the field of HL optimization, providing a recent through survey of the field, novel practical models, methodologies, and an algorithm that address both operational efficiency and security challenges, in an effort to bridge the gap between theoretical research and real-world humanitarian needs.</p>
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/25605933 |
Date | 15 April 2024 |
Creators | Ibrahim Alturki (18368754) |
Source Sets | Purdue University |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Text, Thesis |
Rights | In Copyright |
Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/_b_The_Humanitarian_Vehicle_Routing_Problem_with_Non-Routineness_of_Trips_b_/25605933 |
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