Computers & Industrial Engineering 173 (2022) 108636

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Computers & Industrial Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/caie

An integrated production batch planning approach for

steelmaking-continuous casting with cast batching plan as the core
Yong-Zhou Wang a, Zhong Zheng a, *, Ming-Mei Zhu a, Kai-Tian Zhang a, Xiao-Qiang Gao b
a
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400045, China
b
School of Economics and Business Administration, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400045, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The development of the high-efficiency continuous casting technology makes it possible to continuously cast
Steelmaking-continuous casting with multi-cast batching plans. The preparation of such steelmaking-continuous casting (SCC) production
Production batching plan batching plan has become a new requirement to promote the efficient steel production. From the perspective of
Multi-cast batching plan
overall production system, an integrated approach with the cast batching plan as the core was proposed, which
Integrated approach
Improved NSGA-II
changes the step-by-step optimization way of combination and sequencing for preparing charge batching plan
and cast batching plan sequentially. This approach, which can perform integrated combination and sequencing,
directly prepares the SCC production batching plan with multiple cast batching plans that can be continuously
cast, and takes into account the charge batching plans. Taking minimizing the weight of unplanned slabs,
maximizing the production efficiency of continuous casters, and minimizing the penalty value for the change of
dimensions of the adjacent slabs as the objectives, a multi-objective mixed-integer programming model was
established. An improved NSGA-II combined with a local search strategy was designed, and the practical aspects
such as multiple grades continuous casting rules and on-line width adjustable rules were considered. The test
result with data from a steel plant in China indicated that the improved algorithm could obtain better slab
combination sequence results compared with the NSGA-II and SPEA2. Simultaneously, compared with the
manual approach and the traditional approach of preparing the charge batching plan and cast batching plan
sequentially, the integrated approach can not only reduce the residual material rate by 4.96% and 0.42%,
improve the quality of the solution, but also improve the efficiency of planning.

1. Introduction
The steel manufacturing process has the characteristics of high
temperature, close process connection, large material and energy con­
sumption, large equipment, and complex operating control. In the long-
process steel manufacturing such as BF-BOF-CC-HR(blast furnace
ironmaking-basic oxygen furnace steelmaking-continuous casting-hot
rolling), SCC-HR (steelmaking-continuous casting-hot rolling) process is
a critical process affecting the product grade, size, quality, etc. Fig. 1
shows a typical SCC-HR process. The hot metal from ironmaking blast
furnace and the scrap are together smelted in a steel-making BOF (Basic
Oxygen Furnace), and refined into qualified molten steel in ladle furnace
(LF) and/or vacuum treatment by Ruhrstahl and Hereaeus (RH), etc. The
molten steel is futher solidified into slabs with different grade and
weight through a continuous casting process (CC). The slabs are
temporarily stored in a slab yard or directly sent to downstream
processes. In hot-rolling (HR) process, the heated slabs are rolled into
various dimensions products such as steel coils or medium-thick plate,
etc.
The long-process steel production organization is generally centered
on continuous casting, because the molten steel in the continuous
casting process solidifies into the steel slab with a certain specification
and quality, which is the key stage linking the entire steel production
process. Qualified molten steel ensures the production of the continuous
caster and also provides the required slabs for the downstream hot
rolling process.
The SCC process is a discrete to continuous production process from
a charge to a sequence of charges, i.e. a cast, and it is also a basic process
for obtaining the varieties, specifications and quality of steel. A charge is
the basic unit of steelmaking operation, which is obtained by combining
a set of slabs according to steelmaking constraints. A cast is the basic unit
of continuous casting operation, which is a combination sequence of

* Corresponding author at: College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, No.174, Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing, China.
E-mail address: zhengzh@cqu.edu.cn (Z. Zheng).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2022.108636
Received 13 April 2022; Received in revised form 19 August 2022; Accepted 3 September 2022
Available online 10 September 2022
0360-8352/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y.-Z. Wang et al. Computers & Industrial Engineering 173 (2022) 108636

Fig. 1. Schematic of the typical SCC-HR process in BF-BOF-CC-HR long-process steel manufacturing.

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of relationship of the typical SCC-HR production batching plan.

several charges determined by tundish life, contract and process con­
straints, etc.
Therefore, a key issue in entire steel production organization is to
make a reasonable SCC production batching plan including charge
batching plan and cast batching plan. The charge batching plan of
steelmaking is not only the basis for steelmaking production and making
the cast batching plan, but also provides the target for the making of the
hot metal supply plan.The cast batching plan of continuous casting
process directly affects the dynamic, orderly, coordinated and contin­
uous production operation of the whole process (as shown in Fig. 2).
Therefore, preparing a reasonable SCC production batching plan not
only plays an important role in realizing the orderly and coordinated
SCC-HR production, improving production efficiency, and reducing
energy consumption, but also provides supporting technology to
alleviate the contradiction between large-scale manufacturing and
small-batch customization demands.
With the development of new continuous casting technology such as
tundish quick-change, continuous casting of different steel grades, and
on-line width adjustable, the continuous casting of multi-cast batching
plans has become the most efficient production mean, which is condu­
cive to improving the production operation efficiency and reducing
energy consumption in steel manufacturing process. In continuous
casting of multi-cast batching plans, it is very important to consider the
linkage between multiple cast batching plans for making the SCC pro­
duction batching plan. However, existing SCC production batching plan
preparation approaches are insufficient to consider this linkage rela­
tionship, which neither involves the continuous casting problem of the
connection of multiple cast batching plans, nor consider the slab

2
Y.-Z. Wang et al.
Fig. 3. The diagram of the approach of the SCC production batching plan.
dimension sequencing problem from the linkage between continuous
casting and hot rolling process.
In production practice, the SCC production batching plan is mainly
prepared by planners based on experience in the Manufacturing
Execution System (MES). The cast batching plan and charge batching
plan involved in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) are usually just
capacity plans. According to the system data and process standard, the
planner manually optimizes the slab combination of production order.
First, the slabs are combined into charge batching plans, and then the
charges are sequenced to obtain the cast batching plans. The manual
preparation of production planning brings up shortcomings of large
workload, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. In addition, due to the
limitations of planner’ experience and computing power, it is difficult to
balance various factors, such as reducing production costs associated
with unplanned slabs, tundishes utilization, process coordination, etc.
Therefore, considering multiple constraints and achieving the trade-
off between multiple production goals to improve the plan-making ef­
ficiency and plan enforceability is a worthy concern in the field of SCC
production batching plan. The concern is also the key issue that needs to
be resolved to achieve intelligent steel manufacturing.
1.1. Literature review
The SCC production batching plan is always identified as a combi­
nation sequencing problem. Researchers in academia and industry pay
their great attention to the problem. Related research mainly includes
charge batching plan, cast batching plan, and integrated batching plan.
In works involving charge batching plan, the slabs are combined to
3
Computers & Industrial Engineering 173 (2022) 108636
obtain charges based on production process requirements. Considering
the slab combination requirements such as steel grade, width and de­
livery date, Jian, Xue and Huang (2005) and Song et al. (2013) estab­
lished a charge batching plan model and designed a solution algorithm.
Wang et al. (2021), Li et al. (2019), and Yang et al. (2018) studied the
charge batching plan that considered reducing residual materials and
narrowing the difference between slabs in the same charge. Considering
the time requirements of the remaining materials and the hot rolling
process for the slab, Peng and Li (2007) regarded the charge batching
plan as an optimization problem with time constraints. Then a mixed-
integer programming model was established and solved with an
improved genetic algorithm. Considering the balance of two-strand
continuous caster and the flexibility of converter capacity and order
weight, Xu and Wang (2015) built up a mixed-integer programming
model of charge batching plan and designed a differential evolution
algorithm with a parallel evolution mechanism. Yi, Jia, and Du (2021)
set up a multi-objective optimization model for the charge batching plan
considering the different casting widths of the twin strands, and
designed a hybrid algorithm combined with a heuristic and mutation-
based estimation of distribution algorithm.
In researches involving cast batching plan, charge are combined and
sorted to obtain casts. Tang and Luo (2006) worked up a quadratic
programming model of the cast batching plan to minimize the number of
casts and the penalties for differences between charges. To obtain the
solution, the model was transformed into a linear model, and an itera­
tive neighborhood search algorithm was proposed in their work. Yi et al.
(2019) studied the cast batching plan considering the requirements of
continuous casting “flow” and the capacity of refining equipment such
Y.-Z. Wang et al.
as RH and LF. The Dantzig-Wolfe decomposition strategy was used to
decompose it into the main problem (set partition problem model) and a
series of sub-problems (pricing problem model). An optimization algo­
rithm based on column generation was proposed to solve the models.
Long et al. (2017) studied the cast batching plan of matching different
casts for multiple continuous casters, and attributed it to the multi-
traveling salesman problem with bonus collection. A mixed-integer
programming model was established, and an optimization method
based on variable neighborhood search is designed.
Since the researches above only planned for the steelmaking or
continuous casting, it was difficult to realize the overall optimization of
the SCC section. Some researchers have begun to conduct research on
the correlation between the charge batching plan and the cast batching
plan at the same time. Xue et al. (2008), Xue, Zheng, and Yang (2010),
Dong et al. (2010,2012), Yang and Li (2014), Yang, Wang, and Li,
(2014), Ma, Chai, and Zheng (2011) and Ma, Luo, and Chai (2013)
successively studied the charge batching plan and the cast batching plan,
but did not establish a connection between the charge batching plan and
the cast batching plan. Tang and Wang (2008) studied the integrated
batching plan in the SCC section according to the sequence of making
charge batching plan first and then cast batching plan. Tang et al. (2011)
first obtained the charge-lot directly through order combination, and
then combined and sorted the charge-lot to obtain the cast batching
plan. In these methods, the solution result of the charge batching plan
model was used as the input set of the cast batching plan model, and
then an integrated batching plan was formed. In addition, Lin et al.
(2016)studied the integrated production planning problem considering
the integration of SCC-HR process, and decomposed it into SCC sub-
problem and HR sub-problem. A new concept was proposed, and the
combinatorial sorting problem of order-sets was studied in the SCC sub-
problem to get the cast batching plans. Lee et al. (2022) studied the
integrated batching problem under bi-strand.
As consequence, the studies above were based on the charges for the
preparation of production batching plan as fellow steps. Firstly, The
slabs in production order were combined to prepare charge batching
plan, and then the charge batching plans are sorted to prepare cast
batching plan, which is completed with a phased approach. When pre­
paring the cast batching plans, the above research generally takes the
production capacity of a single tundish as the upper limit of the number
of charges, and only considers the casting sequence requirements of
charges in a single cast. The production organization requirements for
the continuous casting of multi-cast batching plans are rarely consid­
ered, which is unfavorable for the multi-tundish continuous casting of
the CC process. Meanwhile, the production connection between CC and
HR is rarely considered in the existing approach, which not only limits
the enforceability of the plan, but also is not conducive to the imple­
mentation of the hot charging process between CC and HR.
1.2. Motivation
With the development of new continuous casting technology and
equipment update, tundish can be quickly replaced and the steel grades
of adjacent casts and casting widths of adjacent slabs are allowed to have
a certain degree of change in multi-tundish continuous casting produc­
tion. Therefore, the multi-tundish continuous casting production has
become the production pattern pursued by steel plants. This production
pattern can minimize the start-up and shutdown operations of the
continuous caster, maximize the number of charges during continuous
casting with multiple casts, which will give full play to the production
capacity of the CC process and reduce production costs and time con­
sumption. In addition, the development of hot delivery and hot charging
technology of slabs to hot rolling has made CC and HR more closely
linked. The casting sequence of the slabs in CC has an important influ­
ence on the rolling sequence of slabs in HR. These are all new re­
quirements for preparing a SCC production batching plan.
The existing making approach for SCC production batching plan
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Computers & Industrial Engineering 173 (2022) 108636
generally first prepares the charge batching plan of steelmaking process,
and then prepares the cast batching plan of CC process, as shown in
Fig. 3(a). The two step approach according to the production process is
difficult to realize the full utilization of steelmaking and CC production
resources. In particular, the continuous casting pattern with multi-
tundish, in which the number of cast slabs has increased significantly,
will be more room for optimization. Therefore, it is necessary to develop
a new production planning approach. It is more reasonable to combine,
sequence optimization and directly prepare the cast batching plan
(including the charge batching plan) of the SCC production regarding
slab as basic object.
Considering the continuous casting requirements of multi-cast
batching plans and the connection between SCC and HR, an integrated
approach of SCC production batching plan regarding cast batching plan
as the core was proposed in this paper. The approach directly takes slab
as basic object and comprehensively considered the combined
sequencing problem of all slabs in multiple cast batching plans in order
to prepare the SCC production batching plan, as shown in Fig. 3(b).
In terms of the multi-tundish continuous casting production, the new
approach would provide multiple cast batching plans that can be
continuously cast and multiple charge batching plans which were
included in each cast batching plan. This approach was conducive to
maximizing the effect of integrated optimization from the perspective of
system optimization, thereby improving plan-making quality.
Considering the constraints of the production process, equipment,
production organization of the SCC section and the production
connection constraints between CC and HR, a multi-objective mixed-
integer programming model is built up. The model will cnter on
continuous casting for integrated optimization of cast batching plan and
charge batching plan with the goals of minimizing the weight of un­
planned slabs, maximizing the production efficiency of the continuous
casters, and minimizing the penalties for changes in the casting di­
mensions and rolling dimensions of adjacent slabs. An improved Non-
Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm version two (NSGA-II) with a
local search strategy is designed to solve the model and the production
data from a steel plant in China are used to validate the model and
algorithm.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, the
production constraints and production goals of the SCC production
batching plan are analyzed, and the multi-objective mixed-integer pro­
gramming with the cast batching plan as the core is established. Section
3 introduces the improved algorithm designed to solve the SCC pro­
duction batching plan problem. Section 4 presents a discussion of
experimental cases and results, and Section 5 concludes the work.
2. Problem statement and mathematical formulation
The integrated preparation problem of SCC production batching plan
can be explained as follows: given a set of production orders, the task is
to prepare a SCC production batching plan through the integrated
combination and sequencing of slabs, which included several casts that
could be cast continuously, and multiple charges included in each cast.
In this section, the production goals and constraints of the SCC pro­
duction batching plan will be analyzed. The following model of the SCC
production bathing plan will be established.
2.1. Symbol description
Parameters
i, i′ The index of slabs, i, i ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, I};
′
wi The weight of slab i, t;
Wcc i The width of slab i;
Hcci The thickness of slab i;
cc
Gi The steel grade of slab i;
Whr The hot-rolling width of slab i;
i
(continued on next page)
Y.-Z. Wang et al. Computers & Industrial Engineering 173 (2022) 108636

Fig. 4. The relationship between the casts which can be continuously cast and slabs.

(continued ) (continued )
Parameters Parameters

Hhr
i
The hot-rolling thickness of slab i; ui,i′ ,j 1 if slabs i and i′ have different steel grade and slab i′ can be arranged after
n The index of charges, n ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, N}; casting slab i, 0 otherwise.
Mch The capacity of charge;
Mmax The maximum capacity of charge;
Mmin The minimize capacity of charge; 2.2. The goals of the integrated model of SCC production batching plan
qwum
n 1 if charge n is warm-up material, 0 otherwise;
Lwum The minimum number of charges for warm-up material; In practical production, due to the contradiction between large-scale
Uwum The maximum number of charges for warm-up material; equipment and small-batch orders, unplanned slabs will inevitably be
qRH 1 if charge n undergoes RH-refining, 0 otherwise;
n
produced. Unplanned slabs will occupy inventory resources and increase
LRH The minimum number of generated RH-refining charges;
URH The maximum number of generated RH-refining charges; production costs. Therefore, the model needs to optimize the combina­
qLF
n
1 if charge n undergoes LF-refining, 0 otherwise; tion of slabs to reduce the weight of unplanned slabs.
LLF The minimum number of generated LF-refining charges; [( ) ]
ULF The maximum number of generated LF-refining charges; ∑I ( )
j The index of casts, j ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, J};
f1 = min i=1
wi • ηi,j • 1 − Mmin /M ch
(1)
aj The number of width changes in cast j;
A The maximum number of width changes within a cast; To maximize the use of equipment resources in the production cycle,
ΔWcc The maximize variation of width within a cast;
max
the production efficiency of the CC process is required to be maximized
Lcc The maximum number that charges can be produced on a tundish;
Nj The number of charges in cast j; when preparing the SCC production batching plan, that is, the contin­
Mplan
max
The maximum equipment production capacity during the production cycle; uous production of the continuous caster is maximized. In the contin­
pg The penalty value of different steel grades between adjacent slabs, uous casting production mode of multi-cast batching plans, the model
{
p, ifGcc
i ∕= Gcc
i′
achieves the maximum number of charges that can be continuously cast
pg = cc , ∀i, i ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, I}
′

0, ifGcc
i = Gi′ through combination and sequencing.
pcc
W The penalty value of width change between adjacent slabs in cast, ∑J ∑N
⃒ cc ⃒
pcc cc cc ⃒ cc
W = γW × Wi − Wi′ , ∀i, i ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, I}Where, γ W is the penalty value
⃒ ′
f2 = max j,j′ =1 n=1
xn,j • xj,j′ (2)
coefficient;
phr
W
The penalty value of different hot-rolling widths between adjacent slabs,
⎧
In addition, the hot delivery and hot charging technology makes the
⎪
⎪
⎪ γhr
⃒ hr ⃒
hr ⃒
1,W × Wi − Wi′ , ifWi < Wi′
⃒ hr hr CC and HR more closely connected. The slab discharge sequence in CC
⎨
phr
W = hr
⃒
⃒ hr
⃒
hr ⃒
(
γ2,W × Wi − Wi′ , if Wi < Wi′ ΔWhr
hr hr
)〉
, ∀i, i ∈ {1, 2, ⋯,
′
has an important influence on the slab rolling sequence in HR (Wang, Shi
⎪ max
⎪
⎪
⎩ 0, else and Liu, 2020). Therefore, when preparing SCC production batching
I}Where, γhr hr hr plan, not only does it meet the requirements of the continuous casting of
1,W and γ2,W are the penalty value coefficient, ΔWmax is the
maximum variation of hot-rolling width; different steel grades and the online width adjustment technology for
phr
H
The penalty value of different hot-rolling thicknesses between adjacent slab discharge sequence, but it is also necessary to take into account the
slabs,
⎧ requirements of hot rolling process for the sequence of the slabs. In the
⃒ ⃒
⎨ γhr × ⃒Hhr − Hhr′ ⃒, ifHhr < Hhr′
1,H i i i i
model, the slab sequencing penalty value is divided into two parts. The
phr , ∀i, i ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, I}Where, γhr
1,H and
′
H =
first part is the penalty value for the change of casting dimensions of
⃒ ⃒
⎩ γhr ⃒ hr hr ⃒
2,H × Hi − Hi′ , else

γhr adjacent slabs, including the change of steel grade and casting width.
2,H are the penalty value coefficient.
Decision variables The second part is to appropriately convert the slab sequencing con­
ηi,j 1 if slab i is assigned to cast j, 0 otherwise; straints of the HR process into the corresponding objective function in
ηi,i′ ,j 1 if slabs i and i′ are assigned to cast j at the same time and slab i′ is arranged the model, and the penalty value for violating the sequencing constraints
successor of casting the slab i, 0 otherwise; of adjacent slabs is used to reflect the degree of production connection
xi,n 1 if slab i is assigned to charge n, 0 otherwise;
xn,j 1 if charge n is assigned to cast j, 0 otherwise;
between the CC process and the HR process. λ1 , λ2 , and λ3 are introduced
xj,j′ 1 if cast j and j′ are continuously cast without stopping the continuous as the coefficients of the steel grade change, the casting width change,
caster, 0 otherwise. and the penalty value of the rolling width and thickness change of the
Auxiliary variable adjacent slabs, respectively.
ui,i′ 1 if slabs i and i′ have different width, 0 otherwise;
(continued on next column)

5
Y.-Z. Wang et al. Computers & Industrial Engineering 173 (2022) 108636

(
∑
I ∑
J ∑
I ∑
J should be less than and close to the maximum production capacity of the
f3 = min λ1 • ui,i′ ,j • pg + λ2 • ηi,i′ ,j • pcc
W + λ3 equipment during the production cycle.
′ ′ j=1 ′ ′ j=1
i,i =1,i∕
=i i,i =1,i∕
=i ( )
) ∑J ∑
∑
I ∑
J
( ) plan
min Mmax
I
w η ≥0 (15)
• ηi,i′ ,j • phr hr
W + pH (3) − i=1
i • i,j
′ ′
j=1
i,i =1,i∕
=i j=1

(6) To facilitate the production connection between CC and HR, a

certain number of warm-up material charges need to be included in the
2.3. The constraints of the integrated model of SCC production batching
SCC production batching plan.
plan
J ∑
∑
(16)
N
The equipment capacity constraint of SCC production batching plan Lwum ≤ qwum
n=1 n
• xn,j ≤ Uwum
includes:
j=1

(1) The tundish capacity constraint. The maximum number of (7) Due to the different production capacity of refining and CC, the
charges that are cast in a tundish should not exceed the tundish lifespan. number of charges required for refining equipment in SCC production
And each slab can only be cast in one tundish or one cast. batching plan need to meet a certain range to balance equipment
[( )/ ] resources.
∑I
Nj = w i • ηi,j M ch
≤ Lcc , ∀j ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, J} (4)
i=1 qRH RH
n = qn’ , if xn,j • xn’,j = 1, ∀n, n’ ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, N}, ∀j ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, J} (17)

∑J qLF LF
n = qn’ , if xn,j • xn’,j = 1, ∀n, n’ ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, N}, ∀j ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, J} (18)
η ≤ 1, ∀i ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, I}
j=1 i,j
(5)
J ∑
∑
(2) The BOF capacity constraint. The total weight of slabs combined LRH ≤
N
qRH • xn,j ≤ URH (19)
into a charge cannot exceed the maximum capacity of the BOF. Mean­ j=1
n=1 n

while, unplanned slabs need to be added when the total weight of slabs is
below the minimum capacity of the BOF. Each slab can only appear once J ∑
∑
(20)
N
in one charge. LLF ≤ qLF
n=1 n
• xn,j ≤ ULF
j=1
∑I
wi • xi,n ≤ Mmax , ∀n ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, N} (6)
3. Solution method
i=1

∑N
xi,n ≤ 1, ∀i ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, I} (7)
n=1 The integrated preparation of SCC production batching plan studied
In practical production, the application of tundish quick-change and in this paper belongs to a kind of multi-objective, NP-hard and large-
online width adjustment technology allow a certain difference in steel scale combinatorial optimization problem, especially for the produc­
grade and casting width between adjacent charges or adjacent casts, as tion mode of continuous casting with multiple cast batching plan. It
shown in Fig. 4. Then, the production of multi-tundish continuous usually takes a lot of time to obtain the optimal solution. NSGA-II is an
casting also needs to meet the constraints (3) and (4). algorithm with high speed but low computational complexity for solving
(3) The casting sequence constraints of different steel grades. The multi-objective combinatorial optimization problems (Deb et al., 2002).
steel grades between adjacent slabs must be capable of continuous In the last decades, NSGA-II has been widely-used in path planning
casting and meet the continuous casting sequential order of multiple (Lucas et al., 2019; Yang, 2018), production scheduling (Nidhiry and
steel grades. Saravanan, 2014; Bandyopadhyay and Bhattacharya, 2013), and so on,
and has demonstrated good performance. However, to achieve better
Gcc cc
i = Gi’ , ifxi,n • xi’,n = 1, ∀i, i’ ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, I}, ∀n ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, N} (8) results, the conventional NSGA-II needs to be appropriately modified to
accommodate the integrated SCC production batching plan problem.
Gcc cc
i = Gi’ , if ηi,i’,j = 1 and μi,i’,j = 0, ∀i, i’ ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, I}, ∀j ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, J} Therefore, based on problem-specific characteristics, this paper attempts
(9) to develop an improved NSGA-II (INSGA-II) and propose specific local
search procedures to enhance it (EINSGA-II).
ηi,i’,j • μi,i’,j = 1, if Gcc
i ∕= Gcc
i’ , ∀i, i’ ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, I}, ∀j ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, J} (10)

(4) The slab on-line width change constraints within cast batching 3.1. Main procedures of EINSGA-II
plans. The slab width change cannot exceed the maximum range of
variable width ΔWcc
max , and the number of width changes cannot exceed EINSGA-II is an algorithm that combines improved NSGA-II and local
the limited number. In addition, the slabs of same width in cast batching search. Algorithm 1 describes the EINSGA-II in detail. First, the popu­
plans should be produced together. lation initialization method combining multiple steel grade continuous
W cc cc casting rules with random sort is used to construct an initial parent
i ≥ W i’ , if ηi,i’,j = 1 and μi,i’ = 1, ∀i, i’ ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, I}, ∀j ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, J}
population P(0) with a population size of PN. Then, the crossover and
(11)
mutation operations are successively applied to the initial population P
( )〈 (t) to generate a population Q(t), and the population P(t) and Q(t) are
(12)
′
μi,i′ • Wicc − Wicc′ ΔW cc
max , ∀i, i ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, I}
merged into a population R(t). After the population R(t) is constructed,
the heuristic local search method is used to further optimize the solution
aj < A, ∀j ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, J} (13)
scheme. Furthermore, EINSGA-II uses a non-dominated sorting method
W cc cc to assign all solutions in the population R(t) to different non-dominated
i = W i’ , if ηi,i’,j = 1 and μi,i’ = 0, ∀i, i’ ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, I}, ∀j ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, J}
sets (F1, F2, …), where the non-dominated level of the set F1 is higher
(14)
than that of the set F2, and so on. After this, it is needed to select PN
Finally, it also needs to meet the constraints of the production or­ individuals from R(t) to construct a new parent population P(t + 1). First
ganization, including: select all individuals in set F1 and join them in P(t + 1). If the total
(5) To maximize the use of equipment resources in the production number of individuals in set F1 is less than PN, according to the non-
cycle, the weight of the slabs included in SCC production batching plan dominated level, select a sufficient number of individuals from sets F2

6
Y.-Z. Wang et al. Computers & Industrial Engineering 173 (2022) 108636

Fig. 5. The real number coding scheme.

to Fn to join the population P(t + 1). To accurately select PN individuals, (continued )

the individuals in set Fn are sorted in descending order of crowdedness, Generate a new cast j, and combine the slab i into cast j;
and individuals with high crowdedness are added to population P(t + 1). For slab i, calculate the number of online width adjustments and the total weight
After reaching the termination criterion, all solutions in the set F1 are of the slab in the cast j.
[(∑ )/ ]
i+1
output, and a heuristic decoding method combined with SCC production If ηi,i+1,j • μi,i+1,j = 1, aj ≤ A and 1 wi • ηi,j Mch ≤ Lcc

batching plan rules is used to obtain multiple integrated SCC production Combine slab i + 1 into cast j.
Else
batching plans.
A new cast j + 1 is generated, and slab i + 1 is combined into the cast j + 1;
Algorithm 1. EINSGA-II. End if
End for
Input: Population size PN, 2. Charge batching plans in each cast batching plan
Output: The non-dominated SCC production batching plans For j = 1 to J
t←0 For i = 1 to I
P(0) ← InitializePopulation() Generate a new charge n, and combine the slab i into charge n;
While Not Termination Critetion do For slab i, calculate the total weight of all slabs in charge n;
∑i+1
Q(t) ← Crossover(P(t)) and Mutation(P(t)) /*generate new solutions*/ If Gcc cc cc cc
i = Gi+1 , Wi = Wi+1 , and 1 wi • xi,n ≤ Mmax
R(t) ← P(t) ∪ Q(t) /*merge parent and offspring population*/ Combine slab i into charge n.
R(t) ← LocalSearch(R(t)) /* local search based on variable neighborhood search */ Else
R(t) ← Non-dominatedSorting(R(t)) A new charge n + 1 is generated, and slab i + 1 is combined into the charge n
P(t + 1) ← SelectionPopulation(R(t)) /*| P(t + 1)| = PN*/ + 1;
t←t+1 End if
End while End for
Output the solutions in F1. Calculate the total weight of all slabs in each charge. If the minimum capacity of
The non-dominated SCC production batching plans ← HeuristicDecoding(F1) the converter is not met, add some unplanned slabs to the charge.
Return the non-dominated SCC production batching plans End for

3.3. Population initialization

3.2. Coding and decoding strategies
Based on the SCC process constraints, a heuristic population initial­
According to the integrated approach of SCC production batching ization method combining multiple steel grade continuous casting rules
plan, the real number coding scheme is shown in Fig. 5. Before making and random sort is presented. The specific population initialization
the production batching plan, all slabs are numbered first. A chromo­ process is described in Algorithm 3.
some represents a SCC production batching plan scheme. Each gene on Algorithm 3. Initialize the population.
the chromosome is the index of the slab, which uniquely represents a
slab. The sequence of genes in the chromosomes represents the pro­ Input: The population size, PN
duction sequence of slabs. For example, the chromosome in Fig. 5 cor­ Output: The initial population, P(0)
Sort each group of slabs s with the same steel grade in the slab sets S according to the
responds to a feasible production sequence of 9 slabs (4 → 2 → 6 → 8 →
continuous casting sequence of multiple steel grades.
1 → 3 → 5 → 9 → 7). While PN > 0 do
In the decoding process, according to the rules of cast batching plan p←∅
and charge batching plan, a heuristic decoding method based on the For i = 1 to |S|
Sort each group of slabs s with the same steel grade randomly.
greedy procedure is used to combine the slabs into cast batching plans
p←p∪s
and charge batching plans. The specific steps are described in Algorithm End for
2. PN ← PN – 1
End while
Algorithm 2. Heuristic decoding method.

Input: the non-dominated solutions in F1

Output: the SCC production batching plans
1. Cast batching plans 3.4. Non-dominated sorting and crowding distance calculation
For i = 1 to I
(continued on next column)
In this paper, all individuals are ranked sequentially using Pareto

Fig. 6. The crossover strategy in EINSGA-II algorithm.

7
Y.-Z. Wang et al.
Fig. 7. The mutation strategy in EINSGA-II algorithm.
Fig. 8. The six types of local search procedure.
ranking, at which time all individuals are assigned to different Pareto
levels. The specific non-dominated sorting algorithm can be found in
reference (Deb et al., 2002).
However, the information on individual crowding degrees cannot be
well reflected by the Pareto ranking method. To prevent individuals
with the same Pareto ranking gather together and losing diversity in the
optimization process, the crowding degree operator needs to be used to
maintain the diversity of the population (Long et al., 2016). This method
can make the target space uniformly discrete.
3.5. Evolution operators
The information exchange between two random chromosomes
through the crossover operator can promote the evolution of in­
dividuals. A two-point crossover method is designed. First, randomly
select two parent chromosomes, and select a group of genes between two
crossover points on the Parent 1 chromosome. Then find the corre­
sponding location of these selected genes on Parent 2. Finally, keep the
unselected genes on the chromosome unchanged. Under the premise of
meeting the process constraints, insert the selected genes into parent 2
one by one according to the order of the selected genes in parent 1, and
insert the selected genes into parent 1 according to the order of the
selected genes in parent 2, thereby generating two offspring chromo­
somes. The crossover operator is shown in Fig. 6.
In the crossover process, for each selected gene e, the probability of
inserting it into each insertion point is determined by the change value
after before
Δf e2 = f2 − f2 of the objective function f2 after gene e is inserted into
the point. If the process constraint is not met, then Δf e2 = 0. If Δf e2 > 0,
the penalty value becomes larger after insertion, the insertion point is
excluded. Therefore, for all insertion points where the penalty value
becomes smaller, the probability that the gene e is inserted between the
∑
slab h and the slab l is θeh,l = |Δf eh,l |/ |Δf ea,b |. Where |Δf eh,l | is the absolute
value of the penalty value of gene e inserted between the slab h and slab
∑
l, and |Δf ea,b | is the sum of the absolute value of the penalty value of
gene e inserted into each insertable point. Based on this, in the crossover
process, roulette is used to randomly select the insertion point of each
8
Computers & Industrial Engineering 173 (2022) 108636
selected gene.
In this study, a single-point mutation method is used to change
chromosomal genes. A mutation point is randomly selected on the
parent chromosome. Keep other genes unchanged, calculate the inser­
tion probability of each insertion point according to the method in the
crossover operator, and insert the selected gene into a certain insertion
point in a roulette method to obtain the offspring chromosomes. The
mutation method used is shown in Fig. 7.
3.6. Local search procedure
The six types of local search procedures based on neighborhood
search are designed, as shown in Fig. 8. These local search procedures
are employed to generate neighborhood populations after each itera­
tion. Through the sequence exchange of charges and slabs, on the one
hand, the algorithm can be prevented from falling into the local opti­
mum. On the other hand, before iteratively generating the next-
generation population, the neighborhood search can be used to find a
better combination sequencing method for charges and slabs to further
optimize the solution obtained with the algorithm.
Charge swap in different casts: exchange a pair of charges in different
casts (Fig. 8 (a));
Charge swap in a cast: exchange a pair of charges in the same cast
(Fig. 8 (b));
Charge swap of sequence in a cast: exchange the production
sequence between two charges in a cast (Fig. 8 (c));
Indirect slab insertion: delete a slab in charge A and insert it to
charge B whose magnitude is under the maximum capacity (Fig. 8
(d));
Slab swap in different charges: exchange a pair of slabs in different
charges (Fig. 8 (e));
Slab exchange: delete a slab in charge A and insert an unselected slab
into it (Fig. 8 (f)).
Note that, feasibility checks including different steel grade contin­
uous casting constraints, and width changes constraints, are needed
Y.-Z. Wang et al. Computers & Industrial Engineering 173 (2022) 108636

Table 1

248.58
The slab data for algorithm testing.

( )

1.6e6
9.1e4

4.1e5
1.5e5
7.5e5
2.4e5
4.3e4
1.0e5
S2 f3

8.88
No. Number Across- Rolling Rolling width Number of
of slabs section thickness range of steel grades
/mm*mm range of slabs/mm of all slabs

78.00
18.57
2.1e4
4.0e3

1.6e4
4.0e3
1.1e4
2.9e3
9.0e3
3.9e3
slabs/mm

f3
1 158 200*2200 8–20 2000–3680 5
2 315 200*2200 10–20 2200–2930 3
3 242 200*2200 16–22 2200–2200 2

S2 (f2 )

0.03
0.26
0.00
0.22
0.31
0.12
0.16
0.00
0.22
0.31
4 158 200*2200 10–22 2200–2910 1
5 360 300*2010 18–80 2000–2500 2
6 232 300*2010 20–60 1810–3230 3
7 271 300*2010 20–62 2000–3520 8

23.03
41.48
30.00
18.71
57.63
23.87
28.81
10.00
26.71
31.64
8 82 300*2010 25–72 2000–2620 3

f2
9 181 300*2010 20–35 2000–2500 1
10 239 300*2010 16–60 1800–3500 9

127.15

371.89
S2 (f1 )

1.4e3
5.5e3

1.2e3

2.2e3

5.9e3
0.00

0.00
0.00
when executing movements.

4. Experimental results and analysis

SPEA 2

39.92
37.01
0.00

0.00
0.00
180.11
157.95
146.19

184.70

355.10
f1
Case experiments have been conducted to evaluate the model per­
formance. To analyze the performance of EINSGA-II, 10 sets of cases
were selected from the production data of a steel plant in China, and

21.54
1.9e6
2.0e5

4.0e5
1.3e5
4.4e5
1.7e4
7.1e5
9.1e4
S f3

0.99
algorithm experiments were performed. To illustrate the practicality of

(
2
the integrated approach in industrial production, 8 sets of cast batching
plans, which were continuously cast, were selected. The SCC production

59.36
12.72
1.8e4
3.3e3

1.4e4
3.2e3
9.6e3
2.3e3
7.0e3
3.2e3
batching plans prepared with the integrated approach, manual prepa­

f3
ration approach, and the traditional two-step approach were compared.
Finally, a soft application based on the above model and EINSGA-II was
developed to facilitate application.

S (f2 )

0.22
0.16
0.00
0.15
0.54
0.05
0.13
0.24
0.15
0.53
In the batching plan rules for the steel plants, the minimum and

2
maximum weight of converter is 180 t and 230 t, respectively. The
maximum number of charges in a tundish is 17. The continuous casting

23.31
41.81
30.00
18.83
58.22
23.95
28.84

26.83
31.33
9.67
sequence of multiple steel grades conforms to the continuous casting f2
rules of multiple steel grades in the steel plant.

250.12

145.30
S (f1 )

5.1e3
2.5e3

3.2e3

1.7e3

5.6e3
0.00

0.00
0.00
4.1. Performance analysis of EINSGA-II
2

In this section, 10 sets of production data shown in Table 1 were

NSGA-II

65.18
31.93
0.00

0.00
0.00
197.63
180.76
130.09

154.95

281.28
selected to compare the performance of EINSGA-II, the standard NSGA-
II and the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Strategy algorithm(SPEA2). The
f1

SPEA2 is also a widely used algorithm in the field of multi-objective

optimization, and it also performs selection operations based on Par­
)

1.5e6
1.2e5

3.3e5
1.1e5
1.2e5
1.5e4
2.9e5
6.9e4
S f3

2.27
0.14

eto domination. Each set of cases includes multiple slabs with different
(
2

steel grades and dimensions.

By setting the parameters population size PN = 80, iteration step size
The computational results for the EINSGA-II, NSGA-II and SPEA2.

54.88
12.79

step = 60, crossover probability CP = 0.8, mutation probability MP =

1.7e4
2.9e3

1.4e4
3.2e3
8.7e3
2.2e3
6.9e3
3.1e3

0.15, this paper has realized EINSGA-II, NSGA-II and SPEA2 in C#

f3

language, and run the 10 instances independently 10 times on a PC with

4.0 GHz CPU, and 8.0G RAM using the Windows 10 operating system
S (f2 )

0.25
0.36
0.00
0.22
0.59
0.10
0.19
0.26
0.25
0.43

(64-bit). Table 2 shows the mean (f) and variance value (S2 (f)) for
2

each objective (the quantity of unplanned slabs, the penalty value

caused by violating the slab sequencing rules) of the best solution with
23.44
41.63
30.00
18.73
58.43
23.89
28.77

26.63
31.36
9.62

10 simulation runs.
f2

From Table 2, although both the results fall approximately in the

same range, the solutions obtained from EINSGA-II are more
3.3e3

concentrated.
131.64

478.08
133.76
56.82
0.00

0.00

0.00
0.00
0.00
S (f1 )

To quantitatively compare optimality on objectives, the relative

2

percentage deviations (RPD) of f d （d = 1,2,3） between the EINSGA-II

EINSGA-II

and the NSGA-II, the SPEA 2 are calculated and listed in Table 3 where
2.27
0.00

0.00
0.00
111.99

227.61
65.81
89.09

25.78
39.83

p num is the total number of Pareto solutions in 10 simulation runs. The

RPD is calculated from formula (21) to (23).
f1

√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
(21)
Table 2

f d = fd − 1.96 • S/ p num
No.

10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

9
Y.-Z. Wang et al. Computers & Industrial Engineering 173 (2022) 108636

Table 3
The RPD results between the EINSGA-II and the NSGA-II, the SPEA2.
No. NSGA-II SPEA2

f1 f2 f3 f1 f2 f3

1 103.33 − 0.46 11.49 109.40 − 1.51 34.62

2 118.85 0.72 − 5.45 104.04 − 0.26 − 44.27
3 164.70 0.00 − 2.31 133.22 0.00 326.94
4 0.00 0.80 − 4.45 0.00 0.00 8.73
5 82.79 − 0.27 − 5.01 71.12 − 1.26 36.02
6 199.26 0.29 16.44 104.17 − 0.19 56.33
7 147.79 0.51 39.87 114.66 0.26 82.45
8 0.00 0.74 6.60 0.00 5.24 50.36
9 0.00 0.92 77.55 0.00 0.36 49.29
10 52.72 − 0.17 33.88 78.82 0.78 70.83
AVG. 86.94 0.31 16.86 71.54 0.34 67.13

RPDNSGA II (f d ) = (NSGA II(f d ) − EINSGA II(f d ))/NSGA II(f d ) × 100%

(22)

RPDSPEA2 (f d ) = (SPEA2(f d ) − EINSGA II(f d ))/SPEA2(f d ) × 100% (23)

The average values of RPD results are calculated at the bottom in

Table 3. These results show that the performance of EINSGA-II is better
than NSGA-II and SPEA2, especially on f1 . However, the improvement
on penalty objective (f2 ) is most non-obvious in NSGA-II. The main
reason for this is the addition of a heuristic local search algorithm aimed
at reducing unplanned slabs in the EINSGA-II. Because the heuristic
local search algorithm adjusts the position of some slabs, it affects the
performance of the objective (f2 ) to a certain extent.
To observe the convergence of the algorithms, this paper plots the
convergence curves for EINSGA-II, NSGA-II and SPEA2 in Fig. 9, which
output by running on instance 3. These curves show that the EINSGA-II
converges rapidly to lower objective values than NSGA-II and SPEA2.
In summary, it can be concluded that EINSGA-II results are superior
to other solutions in the majority of examples. This mainly depends on
the following approach: the heuristic population initialization method
and decoding method combined with a multi-tundish continuous casting
production process; the local search strategy aimed at enhancing algo­
rithm performance.

4.2. Approach comparison

To investigate the industrial application effects of the proposed

model and algorithm, 8 sets of cases based on production data are
selected. The test content includes the integrated one-step approach
(IOSA) proposed in this paper, the traditional two-step approach (TTSA)
from the charge batching plan to the cast batching plan and the manual
preparation strategy (MPS). The parameter settings of the EINSGA-II are
the same as those in section 4.1. Due to the randomness of the EINSGA-
II, each case is run multiple times and averaged. The final results of three
preparation strategies are shown in Table 4.
In Table 4, column 1 is the corresponding cast number, column 2 is
the total weight of slabs (TWS) in the casts which can be continuously
cast. Columns 3, 4 and 5 are the values of objectives f1 , f2 and f3 of MPS,
Fig. 9. the convergence curves of EINSGA-II, NSGA-II and SPEA2.
columns 6, 7 and 8 are the average values of objectives f1 , f2 and f3 of
TTSA, and columns 9, 10 and 11 are the average values of objectives f1 ,
slab in the casts, sacrificing the optimization effect of objective f3 . In
f2 and f3 of IOSA. Δf1 , Δf2 and Δf3 are the difference between objective
addition, compared with TTSA, IOSA has significantly better perfor­
f1 , f2 and f3 of MPS, TTSA, and IOSA.
mance in objective f3 . This shows that the SCC production batching plan
In terms of objective f1 , IOSA is significantly better than the MPS, and
prepared with IOSA is more conducive to the coordinated production of
is better than the TTSA in most instances. In terms of objective f2 , IOSA is
CC and HR than the SCC production batching plan made with TTSA.
better than the MPS and TTSA. The higher the number of continuously
Therefore, on the whole, the IOSA is better than the MPS and TTSA in
cast charges, the higher the productivity of the steelmaking plant. In
the two objectives, and the IOSA is effective and feasible.
terms of objective f3 , the optimization effect of IOSA is equivalent to the
To facilitate the application of planners, a software application with
MPS in some instances. This is because the heuristic local search strategy
Visual C# based on the model and EINSGA-II was developed. The soft­
in IOSA, which is oriented to minimize the weight of unplanned slabs,
ware application was integrated with the information system of a steel
reduces the weight of unplanned slabs by adjusting the position of the

10
Y.-Z. Wang et al. Computers & Industrial Engineering 173 (2022) 108636

Table 4
The final results of MPS, TTSA and IOSA.
No. TWS/t MPS TTSA IOSA Δf1 Δf2 Δf3

f1 f2 f3 f1 f2 f3 f1 f2 f3 MPS TTSA MPS TTSA MPS TTSA

A 4898 625.79 18 5069.4 85.16 18 4717.8 72.87 24 2165.4 11.29 0.25 25.00 25.00 57.28 54.10
B 8828 156.36 36 874. 0 88.64 36 1328.3 89.09 42 866.0 0.76 − 0.01 14.29 14.29 0.92 34.80
C 6302 240.00 26 34. 0 0. 00 26 32.4 20.21 30 18. 0 3.49 − 0.32 13.33 13.33 47.06 44.44
D 12,755 774.82 52 1449.5 0. 00 55 4413.4 0. 00 59 1226.0 6.07 0. 00 11.86 6.78 15.42 72.22
E 7883 254.66 17 6515.5 0. 00 20 6922.5 0. 00 24 6293.5 3.23 0. 00 29.17 16.67 3.41 9.09
F 9494 844.60 23 4024.4 369.27 26 6743.2 223.21 29 3096.1 6.54 1.54 20.69 10.34 23.07 54.09
G 2669 188.18 10 2510.5 102.85 10 2509.6 20. 00 10 2001.0 6.30 3.10 0.00 0.00 20.29 20.27
H 8415 548.57 25 3876.5 277.45 28 6284.5 379.15 32 2890.2 2.01 − 1.20 21.88 12.50 25.44 54.01
AVG. 4.96 0.42 17.03 12.36 24.11 42.88

Fig. 10. The interface of the software application with the existing information system.

plant and the interface of the software application with the existing
information system is shown in Fig. 10.
Major steps of using the software application to obtain integrated
SCC production batching plan are given below:
Step1: Data downloading. The planner download slab data from the
information system of the steel plant to the local database.
Step2: System configuration. First, the planner can modify the plan­
ning period, such as one day or three days, and set the equipment pro­
duction capacity and equipment maintenance plan within the planning
period. Next, considering the production organization and slab infor­
mation, the planner can select the plan objectives and set the dynamical
parameters of the models Lwum , Uwum , LRH , URH , LLF and ULF . Finally,
algorithm related parameters appearing in the model such as penalty
coefficients λ1 , λ2 , λ3 are chosen.
Step3: Solution generation. The planner starts the automatic solver to
prepare the SCC production batching plan.
Step4: Solution evaluation. The solver can generate a set of SCC
production batching plans which are not dominated by other plans, and
the planner can choose the satisfactory-one according to the production
organization. If the planner is dissatisfied with all the current plans,
there are two ways to adjust the plans. First, the planner can exchange
the slabs and charges using a man–machine interactive planning editor.
Second, the planner modifies the parameters as Step 2 and repeats Steps
2–4 to obtain a new set of SCC production batching plans.
Step5: Solution uploading. The planner chooses the most satisfied
SCC production batching plan, saves it to the local database, and finally
uploads it to the information system of the steelmaking plant.
The software application allows the planner to deal with some un­
certainties because of the modular design of the software. First, the
software application can flexibly select the production period for
planning. For example, each Friday, the planner can make the SCC
production batching plans for the next three days, Saturday, Sunday and
Monday, by setting the production period to three days. Second, the
software application can make the SCC production batching plans
considering different production order statuses, upstream and down­
stream production line production organizations and can weigh multiple
production targets for planning. Finally, due to the high efficiency of the
software, the planner can adapt the plan according to the production
organization. For example, when an unplanned situation occurs, such as
emergency order arrival, machine breakdown, etc., the planner can
modify dynamic parameters, re-run the software, and get a new plan
timely.
The software application has been verified through a test with pro­
duction data from a steel plant in China. And the time to generate an
integrated SCC production batching plan by using the software appli­
cation never exceeds 5 min. Compared with manual batching ap­
proaches for charge batching plan and cast batching plan, which take
about 2 h by two planners, the speed of processing increased
significantly.
5. Conclusion
An integrated approach for SCC production batching plan with cast
batching plan as the core was proposed in this paper. The main con­
clusions of this paper are as follows:
(1) The traditional two-stage approach of SCC production batching
plan, which prepares the charge batching plan and cast batching
plan sequentially, is difficult to adapt to the maximum utilization
of resources in the production of multi-tundish continuous

11
Y.-Z. Wang et al.
casting. Aiming at this problem, from the perspective of overall
system optimization, an integrated approach, which takes the
slab as the object, for the SCC production batching plan is pro­
posed. The approach takes the cast batching plan as the core and
takes into account the charge batching plan.
(2) The integrated approach established a multi-objective mixed-
integer programming model with the goals of minimizing the
weight of unplanned slabs, maximizing the continuous produc­
tion degree of the continuous caster (Maximize the production
capacity of multi-tundish continuous casting), and the orderly
connection between CC and HR (Minimize the punishment value
for slab sequencing). To facilitate the solution of the model, the
EINSGA-II combined with a local search strategy was designed. A
heuristic population initialization method and a decoding
method that considered the practical aspects such as multiple
grades continuous casting rules and on-line width adjustable
rules were given.
(3) The test experiments were carried out with the production data
from a steel plant in China. The results showed that the EINSGA-II
is superior to the standard NSGA-II and SPEA2. By comparison
with the manual preparation strategy and the traditional two-step
approach from the charge batching plan to the cast batching plan,
the unplanned slab weight of the SCC production batching plan
made with IOSA were respectively reduced by an average of 4.96
% and 0.42 %, the number of charges that can be continuously
cast had increased by an average of 17.03 % and 12.36 %, and the
sequence of slab rolling dimension was optimized, which is more
conducive to the production connection between the CC and HR.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Yong-Zhou Wang: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software,
Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Funding acqui­
sition. Zhong Zheng: Conceptualization, Resources, Supervision, Proj­
ect administration, Funding acquisition. Ming-Mei Zhu: Writing –
review & editing. Kai-Tian Zhang: Writing – review & editing, Funding
acquisition. Xiao-Qiang Gao: Writing – review & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
The authors do not have permission to share data.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the
editors for their constructive and pertinent comments. This work is
supported by the Key Program of the National Natural Science Foun­
dation of China (No. 51734004), Chongqing Postdoctoral Science
Foundation project (No. cstc2020jcyj-bshX0104), the Graduate research
and innovation foundation of Chongqing, China (Grant No. CYB20006).
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