OPTIMISATION OF SEQUENTIAL COMBINATORIAL PROCESSES

摘要

A method of optimising a sequential combinatorial process comprising an interchangeable sequence of events comprises using a master model to model a selection of the possible sequences, and using information derived from the master model in a surrogate model that approximates the master model with a much shorter computation time. The surrogate model calculates all the possible sequences using an algorithm to select from the information calculated by the master model that which most closely matches the events of a present sequence, following a prioritised system so that the best match is used wherever possible. All results from the surrogate model are compared so that the modelled sequence that gives the result closest to a desired optimum result for the process can be identified, and potentially applied to the process. Accuracy can be enhanced by running the optimum sequence through the master model as a check, and further by adding the optimum sequence to the information used by the surrogate model in future calculations. Any sequential combinatorial process, in which the quality of the end result of the process depends on the order in which events in the process are performed, can be optimised in this way, including manufacturing process such as machining, cutting, shaping, forming and/or heat treating a workpiece, flow of material through a factory or oil or gas through a pipeline network, chemical and material science mixing processes, computational biology modelling, and fleet management.