A Heuristic Approach to Container Loading Problem Based on Space Decomposition and A Rule for Usage Rate of Packing Space

Aheuristic approach to container loading of rectangular objects by using ternarytree structure to represent the packing space is proposed．Through progressive decomposition of the packing space，each time an optimal object that satisfies the specific conditions conforming to the current packing space is chosen and put into the rear bottom-left corner of the packing space． Experimental curve of container usage rate versus ratio of the total volume of rectangular packing objects to the overall container volume is obtained．The conclusion drawn from the experimental study is useful to guide the container loading in industrial applications．