Duration/Cost Trade-offs in Project Scheduling with Time-switch Constraints

The time-switch constraints attract less attention in the discrete time/cost trade-off problems (DTCTP, for short), but these constraints impose specific starting time on the project activities and force them to be active and inactive during specific time periods. Therefore, a more realistic optimization model is set up in this paper, which is the discrete duration/cost trade-offs in project scheduling with time-switch constraints (DDCTPTSC, for short), and then solve the DDCTPTSC by a customization heuristic genetic algorithm. Combining a real-life project example, the analysis results show that time-switch constraints´ impacts on project indirect cost, penalty cost and bonus cost are mostly different from the traditional DTCTP model because of time-switch constraints, moreover, from the viewpoints of both contractors and clients respectively, we discuss that the penalty/bonus intensity makes the effects on both deciding behaviors, the obtained conclusions provide the instructive meaning for them in the project´s negotiation