Calculation of the Cycle and Working Hours for Complex Projects with Iterations

For the purpose of estimating the cycle and working hours of complex projects which often involve a number of iterations, an improved parallel iteration model based on the representation of design structure matrix is used in this paper. First this model is applied to calculate the duration and working hours of tasks in the coupled block through the method of linear algebra. Then by substituting the results, the cycle and total working hours of the entire project which will provide important bases for the schedule management and cost control can be obtained. Finally, a simple example is utilized to illustrate the process of calculation.