Simplex Method

Some Special Cases


1. Unrestricted (unconstrained) Variables

Sometimes decision variables are unrestricted in sign (positive, negative or zero). In all such cases, the decision variables can be expressed as the difference between two non-negative variables. For example, if x1 is unrestricted in sign, then

Put x1 = x1' - x1''


Example

Maximize z = 2x1 + 3x2

subject to

-x1 + 2x2 £ 4
x1 + x2 £ 6
x1 + 3x2 £ 9

x1, x2 are unrestricted in sign

Solution.

Since x1 and x2 are unrestricted in sign, we can replace them by non-negative variables x1' , x1'', x2' , x2'' .

Put x1 = x1' - x1''
x2 = x2' - x2''

The given problem can be written as

Max. z = 2(x1' - x1'') + 3(x2' - x2'')

subject to

-(x1' - x1'') + 2(x2' - x2'') £ 4
(x1' - x1'') + (x2' - x2'') £ 6
(x1' - x1'') + 3(x2' - x2'') £ 9

Introducing slack variables

Max. z = 2x1' - 2x1'' + 3x2' - 3x2''

subject to

-x1' + x1'' + 2x2' - 2x2'' + x3 = 4
x1' - x1'' + x2' - x2'' + x4 = 6
x1' - x1'' + 3x2' - 3x2'' + x5 = 9

Where x3, x4 and x5 are slack variables

Table 1

    
cj 2 -2 3 -3 0 0 0
    
cB Basic variables
B
x1' x1'' x2' x2'' x3 x4 x5 Solution values
b (=XB)
0 x3 -1 1 2 -2 1 0 0 4
0 x4 1 -1 1 -1 0 1 0 6
0 x5 1 -1 3 -3 0 0 1 9
zj-cj
    
-2 2 -3 3 0 0 0
    

Key column = x2' column.
Minimum (4/2, 6/1, 9/3) = 2
Key row = x3 row.
Pivot element = 2
x3 departs and x2' enters.

Table 2

    
cj 2 -2 3 -3 0 0 0
    
cB Basic variables
B
x1' x1'' x2' x2'' x3 x4 x5 Solution values
b (=XB)
3 x2' -1/2 1/2 1 -1 1/2 0 0 2
0 x4 3/2 -3/2 0 0 -1/2 1 0 4
0 x5 5/2 -5/2 0 0 -3/2 0 1 3
zj-cj
    
-7/2 7/2 0 0 3/2 0 0
    

Table 3

    
cj 2 -2 3 -3 0 0 0  
cB Basic variables
B
x1' x1'' x2' x2'' x3 x4 x5 Solution values
b (=XB)
3 x2' 0 0 1 -1 1/5 0 1/5 13/5
0 x4 0 0 0 0 2/5 1 -3/5 11/5
2 x1' 1 -1 0 0 -3/5 0 2/5 6/5
zj-cj
    
0 0 0 0 -3/5 0 7/5
    

Table 4

    
cj 2 -2 3 -3 0 0 0      
cB Basic variables
B
x1' x1'' x2' x2'' x3 x4 x5 Solution values
b (=XB)
3 x2' 0 0 1 -1 0 -1/2 1/2 3/2
0 x3 0 0 0 0 1 5/2 -3/2 11/2
2 x1' 1 -1 0 0 0 3/2 -1/2 9/2
zj-cj
    
0 0 0 0 0 3/2 1/2
    

The optimal solution is:
x1' = 9/2, x1'' = 0, x2' = 3/2, x2'' = 0.

Solution of the original problem is:
x1 = x1' - x1'' = 9/2 - 0 = 9/2
x2 = x2' - x2'' = 3/2 - 0 = 3/2
z = 2 X 9/2 + 3 X 3/2 = 27/2.

 


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