Non-conserving Flow Aspect of Maximum Dynamic Flow Problem

Abstract

Shifting as many people as possible from disastrous area to safer area in a minimum time period in an efficient way is an evacuation planning problem (EPP). Modeling the evacuation scenarios reflecting the real world characteristics and investigation of an efficient solution to them have become a crucial due to rapidly increasing number of natural as well as human created disasters. EPPs modeled on network have been extensively studied and the various efficient solution procedures have been established where the flow function satisfies the flow conservation at each intermediate node. Besides this, the network flow problem in which flow may not be conserved at nodes necessarily could also be useful to model the evacuation planning problem. This paper proposes an efficient solution procedure for maximum flow evacuation planning problem of later kind on a single-source-single-sink dynamic network with integral arc capacities with holding capability of flow (evacuees) in the temporary shelter at intermediate nodes.

 Journal of the Institute of Engineering, 2018, 14(1): 107-114