Selection of Efficient Crossover Operator in Metaheuristic Approach for 2D Strip Packing

The use of heuristics and metaheuristic approach has grown rapidly in solving combinatorial optimization problems as they provide an optimal or a sub optimal solution in reasonable time. In this paper, we proposed a metaheuristic approach to solve 2D-Strip packing problem. We have also carried out a comparative study with a pool of crossover operators to find the best coupled one with our approach. The exhaustive testing on a benchmark dataset shows the efficiency of the approach is to solve large instances in reasonable time. Amongst the various crossover operators used maximal preservative crossover is found to be most suitable. The conclusion is supported by the extensive testing on several instances from the literature.