A note on 'optimization of multi-pass turning operations using ant colony system'

An article by Vijayakumar et al. [Optimization of multi-pass turning operations using ant colony system, International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture 43(15) (2003) 1633-1639] proposed an ant colony optimization methodology for determining the machining parameters in a multi-pass turning operation model. By using the problem of Chen and Tsai [A simulated annealing approach for optimization of multi-pass turning operations, International Journal of Production Research 34(10) (1996) 2803-2825], they concluded that their ant colony approach outperformed the other optimization techniques proposed by other researchers. This note discusses an illustrative multi-pass turning problem, which was used in several literatures and demonstrates that the optimal solution as found by Vijayakumar et al. [1] is not valid. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.