Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Marc Parizeau
Departement
de genie
electrique
et de genie
informatique, Universite Laval, Pavillon Adrien-Pouliot,
Quebec
(Quebec),
Canada
Abstract: The maintenance and management of underground infrastructures is a growing problem for a majority of municipalities. The maintenance costs are increasing while the financial resources of municipalities
remain limited. Water distribution system (WDS) managers therefore need tools to assist them in the elaboration of pipe renewal management plans. In this article, results of a newly developed strategy for pipe renewal based
on a cost function are presented. The strategy allows the
minimization of a cost function while also considering
hydraulic criterion. This strategy was tested on a short
planning horizon of five years. The pipe number to be
replaced and the optimal moment for renewal are identified using three different optimization techniques: IGA
(Island Genetic Algorithm), NPGA-2 (Niched Pareto
Genetic Algorithm 2), and NSGA-II (Non-dominated
Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II). The proposed approach
has five distinctive features: (1) it is coupled with a flexible evolutionary framework that allows the user to select
To
C
any type of operator for IGA or any kind of multiobjective genetic algorithm; (2) it uses the hydraulic simulator Epanet2.0 which allows steady state or dynamic
simulations; (3) it considers a probabilistic break model
to evaluate the structural deterioration of pipes; (4) it integrates a Bayesian approach for the estimation of the
pipe break model parameters that take into account the
influence of inherent uncertainties related to the quality
of data during the decision-making process; and (5) it
simulates the variation of the pipes roughness over the
years. The developed strategy/model is explained using
an example that allows us to elucidate its most important
components. Simulation experiments on a small network
(100 pipes) are presented. A comparison of three evolutionary algorithm results is provided. Tests showed that
IGA performs well, but for networks of larger sizes, we
recommend increasing the number of demes to reach better solutions. Higher quality results were achieved with
NSGA-II than NPGA-2 on differently sized networks.
We recommend the use the NSGA-II to optimize large
WDS. Future developments for this strategy are also
discussed.
2008 Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA,
and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK.
626
1 INTRODUCTION
Distribution networks are constructed to satisfy the
needs of users and to ensure/provide fire protection.
The distributed water must be of good quality and supply a sufficient pressure. However, over the years, pipes
deteriorate, breaks become more and more frequent,
and certain networks fail to satisfy the required pressure. To improve a networks state, managers need tools
that allow them to make good decisions regarding when
it is essential to replace or rehabilitate network pipes,
taking into account the financial resources, which in
most cases are limited.
The objective of this article is to present and discuss optimization results of a new strategy/model for
pipe renewal that was tested to minimize total break repairs and replacement costs and to identify when and
which pipes need renewal. This strategy was tested using three evolutionary optimization algorithms to find
a solution to the problem. The first algorithm is IGA
(island genetic algorithm), which considers the fitness
value to be optimized to find the optimal solution (or
close to optimum). The advantage of the considered genetic algorithm (GA) is that the search process for the
best solution is realized on various subspaces. The second algorithm is the NPGA-2 (niched Pareto genetic
algorithm), a multiobjective technique which is an improved version of the NPGA first developed by Horn
et al. (1994) and tested by Erickson et al. (2001) in
ground water quality management. The last algorithm
is named NSGA-II (non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm), a multiobjective technique that is a revised
version of the NSGA developed by Srinivas and Deb
(1994). This version is more efficient computationally
than its predecessor.
The article is organized as follows. The following
section presents a brief literature review of the main
published works related to rehabilitation/replacement
problem. Section 3 presents the proposed renewal strategy applied on a short planning horizon. Section 4
presents the mathematical formulation of the problem.
Three evolutionary optimization techniques are presented in Section 5. Finally, the results are discussed
and the different techniques are analyzed and compared
considering a 100-pipe network.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
The rehabilitation/replacement problem was previously
addressed at the pipe level by several authors. For example, Shamir and Howard (1979) were among the first
who presented a method to determine the optimal re-
Chicoutimi (Quebec),
having a short-break history and
627
Break
model X
Break
model Y
Prior
Distribution
of
parameters
Estimation of BBM
parameters with
Bayesian approach
Posterior
Distribution
of
parameters
628
identified for each break order, a relation between parameters and break order is used to estimate other parameters with a higher order. All the parameters estimate the evolution of the average number of breaks
for every pipe in the network. This average number is
a function of the number of breaks recorded by each
pipe. The third stage shows whether it is economical to
renew a pipe or not. An objective function considering
repair costs and future replacement cost is used. The repair break function considered for each pipe depends on
the recorded breaks in the same pipe. At this stage, the
hydraulic component, which is also used for deterioration capacity, is also considered. Then, an optimization,
based on a 5-year interval to minimize cost function, is
run and best solutions are provided. The supposed planning horizon used in this study was equal 5 years to reflect a short horizon planning level. However, this interval can be modified easily.
To resolve the optimization problem, an evolutionary
technique was selected. The choice of genetic algorithm
variety as the technique of optimization was forced by
the fact that there were a large number of combinations
to estimate. For example, let us consider a case where
only two options are available: to replace or not to replace pipe. These two options give a total number of
combinations for a simple network with 100 pipes as
2100 , which is roughly 1.26 1030 combinations, which
is extremely large, especially if we expect to add a time
influence (replace first year, second year, third year,
etc.). Besides the fact that GA can resolve large problems, they are well adapted to resolve discrete, nonlinear problems, with or without constraint and they do not
require auxiliary calculations as derivative calculations.
Tf ( j)
(2)
t=t +1
Cr ( j) = 1.1D( j)1.15
(3)
(4)
k=1
j {1, . . . , MaxLoop}
(7)
(8)
mLoop j
4 MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION
OF THE PROBLEM
The proposed algorithm has the goal of minimizing a cost function, including a break repair term
and a replacement term for all pipes in the network
(Equation (1)). We supposed that the present time is t ,
with an annual step and a planning horizon of 5 years.
Thus, each pipe in the network can be replaced between (t + 1) and (t + t), for the first and last
years, respectively. We supposed in this model that the
whole break history in the network is known. By considering a discrete notation, the optimization problem
(minimization) of cost is formulated with Equations (1)
to (11):
Min
N
j=1
[CTot ( j; Tf ( j) | k( j))]
10.67( j)
Q( j, t)1.852 ;
D( j)4.87 C j (t)1.852
H( j, t) =
(1)
j {1, . . . , N}
H(node,t) H
min
(9)
Penalty =
max
t
(t=t +1,t +5)
max
node
(node=1,MaxNode)
(11)
Where: C j (t): HazenWilliams coefficient for pipe j; a k :
Roughness rate growth (m/year); ke 0 : Initial roughness
of pipe j(mm); Q(j, t): Flow in pipe j at time t; Dem node :
Demand node; H(node, t): Pressure head; H min (node,
t): Minimal required pressure; H(j, t): Head losses;
Penalty: Pressure penalty function.
5 EVOLUTIONARY OPTIMIZATION
TECHNIQUES TESTED
The evolutionary optimization techniques used are all
integrated to Openbeagle framework (Beagle Engine is
an Advanced Genetic Learning Environment) written
in C ++ by Gagne and Parizeau (2004). This framework was linked to the hydraulic simulator Epanet2.0
(Rossman, 2000) for hydraulic steady-state analysis.
This framework was used because it presents several
advantages. For example, it allows the integration of
the operator to minimize or maximize the objective
function without modifying the form of the function to
be optimized. Another advantage is that the user can
choose various operators (selection, crossover, etc.) as
629
630
Table 1
Generational island GA parameters
6 APPLICATIONS
The application of the developed strategy is illustrated
with a hypothetical WDS. The complete data set can be
consulted in the study by Dridi (2006). This network has
one single reservoir and 100 pipes; the minimal required
pressure at each node is fixed to 20 m.
6.1 IGA results and influence of the penalty
function coefficient
The first test was realized with a break history over a
period of 40 years and, regardless of a penalty function,
with the goal being to check the influence of the parameters of IGA. By using value parameters of Table 1, the
Deme number
Deme size
Migration interval
Migrants size (5%)
Tournament size
Crossover probability
Individual mutation probability
Bit mutation probability
Maximum of generations
5
200
10
10
4
0.30
1.00
0.01
500
631
10
4
205 500
3
2
204 000
202 500
0
100
200
300
Generation
400
500
25
Pressure at node 58 (m)
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
30
31
32
Year
33
34
35
6.2 NSGA-II
Parameters of NSGA-II used are: population size =
1,000; crossover probability = 0.50; mutation probability = 0.50; bit mutation probability = 0.01; and maximum of generation = 500. Figure 4 illustrates the total number of nondominated solutions, as well as the
cost value of the network (Equation (1)) and the maximal deficit pressure value over years (Equation (11)).
It is interesting to note that the first solution is identical to that found with IGA with no hydraulic constraint
and the 6th solution is like that obtained with the approach considering the hydraulic constraint, by imposing a minimal pressure of 20 m. The results indicate that
six solutions were identified, five proposed to replace
one pipe to increase the pressures at the most critical
node. The first solution had the cheapest cost and the
last one had the most expensive cost function but insures that all nodes had the required minimal pressure
of 20 m. Because all solutions suggest the replacement
of one 100 mm pipe, the total replacement cost of each
solution is equal to $21,947.
6.3 Comparison NPGA-2 and NSGA-II
Before beginning, a sensibility analysis of maximum
generation number had been made. Then, this number
632
1,0
0,8
NSGA-II (500
generations)
0,6
0,4
0,2
0,0
280 800
281 000
281 200
281 400
633
634
lutions. The NPGA-2 results showed that the niche radius value could affect the quality of the nondominated
solutions. The comparison of NPGA-2 with NSGA-II
showed that the latter could give better nondominated
solutions, thus a better quality of Pareto front. We recommend the use of NSGA-II to optimize a large WDS,
because few parameters need to be adjusted with this
algorithm and its performance is better.
The results confirm that using optimization techniques based on evolutionary algorithms as genetic algorithm could be useful to solve scheduling pipe renewal problems in WDS and that such a renewal model
can be useful to assist any decision maker when evaluating different options to improve their systems. Future work is needed to apply this approach to larger
and more realistic systems. This algorithm can be easily expanded to integrate other modules. Future applications will, however, take time because the most important factor in such strategies is the process of data
collection, which takes a lot of time, energy, and money
to organize all the information into a format that is easy
to use.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The work presented in this article reflects the results of
the research work of the first author for his Ph.D. thesis. The authors are grateful to reviewer Karen Cossitt
for the suggestions in improving this article. The authors
wish to thank the five reviewers and the editor for providing valuable comments.
REFERENCES
7 CONCLUSION
The objective of this article was to present results of
a new strategy developed on a short planning horizon that allows the identification of which pipes need
to be replaced and the optimal time for replacement
by testing three different evolutionary algorithms: an
IGA, NPGA-2, and NSGA-II. The generational IGA
used gave satisfying results for identification of best solutions. However, the results depend on coefficient of
the penalty function. During sensibility analysis, it was
established that the number of individuals who participate in the tournament selection can also have a
large influence on the convergence toward the best solution. Tests conducted on other networks (less than
250 pipes) showed also that the IGA used performs
well, but for larger sized networks we recommend increasing the number of demes (more than 10 demes
with 500 individuals in each deme) to reach better so-
`
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decision,
Dix-septi`emes entretiens Jacques Cartier. Colloque
Eau potable et technologies environnementales : enjeux
internationaux, Centre Eau, Terre et Environnement
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