In: Mechanical Engineering
An alloy manufacturer is planning to produce 1000 kg of an alloy with 25% of metal A and 75% of metal B by combining five available alloys. The quantity available and prices for these alloys is shown in the following table. Alloy Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Type 4 Type 5 %A 10 15 20 30 40 %B 90 85 80 70 60 Available quantity, kg 300 400 200 700 450 Price $/kg 6 10 18 24 30 As the production engineer, you are asked to determine the production schedule that will minimize cost. (a) Clearly formulate the problem giving the objective function and constraints. Clearly show the design variables. (b) Put the problem in standard form. (c) Suggest a method for solving the problem. (d) By hand, solve the problem for the first three tableaus. Adapted from Belegundu and Chandrupatla, Optimization concepts and applications in engineering, Second edition