A multi-objective decision making model based on TLBO for the time – cost trade-off problems

In a project schedule, it is possible to reduce the time required to complete a project by allocating extra resources for critical activities. However, accelerating a project causes additional expense. This issue is addressed by finding optimal set of time-cost alternatives and is known as the time-cost trade-off problem in the literature. The aim of this study is to identify the optimal set of time-cost alternatives using a multiobjective teaching-learning-based optimization (TLBO) algorithm integrated with the non-dominated sorting concept and is applied to successfully optimize the projects ranging from a small to medium large projects. Numerical simulations indicate that the utilized model searches and identifies optimal / near optimal trade-offs between project time and cost in construction engineering and management. Therefore, it is concluded that the developed TLBO-based multiobjective approach offers satisfactorily solutions for time–cost trade-off optimization problems.