The time-cost trade-off problem and its extensions: A state-of-the-art survey and outlook

The time-cost optimization is amongst the most critical fields, which has an extensive range of implementation in project scheduling. Achieving a satisfactory balance between these factors can lead to an efficient construction project by reducing both the length of the project and costs at the same time. An effective balance can be achieved using various methods, depending on the situation. This study aims to incorporate the various algorithms used in the last 15 years to reach a satisfying balance between time and cost, including meta-heuristics, heuristics, and exact algorithms. A comprehensive view of the problems associated with time-cost optimization will be provided throughout this review to assist new and challenging researchers who are interested in this type of research. For this purpose, we have reviewed some objective functions and uncertainty techniques that could be employed in time-cost balancing problems. The literature review tables contain a variety of columns, including uncertainties such as fuzzy, probabilistic, interval, robust, and objective functions, along with cost and time, for the investigation of various types of balance issues. In the conclusion of this article, we will show the results of our literature review table using different types of graphic diagrams. For each main column of the table, we will show various types of diagrams to make the results easier to understand.