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This paper proposes the Love Evolution Algorithm (LEA), a novel evolutionary algorithm inspired by the stimulus–value–role theory. The optimization process of the LEA includes three phases: stimulus, value, and role. Both partners evolve through these phases and benefit from them regardless of the outcome of the relationship. This inspiration is abstracted into mathematical models for global optimization. The efficiency of the LEA is validated through numerical experiments with CEC2017 benchmark functions, outperforming seven metaheuristic algorithms as evidenced by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the Friedman test. Further tests using the CEC2022 benchmark functions confirm the competitiveness of the LEA compared to seven state-of-the-art metaheuristics. Lastly, the study extends to real-world problems, demonstrating the performance of the LEA across eight diverse engineering problems. Source codes of the LEA are publicly available at https://ww2.mathworks.cn/matlabcentral/fileexchange/159101-love-evolution-algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metaheuristics are commonly employed as a means of solving many distinct kinds of optimization problems. Several natural-process-inspired metaheuristic optimizers have been introduced in the recent years. The convergence, computational burden and statistical relevance of metaheuristics should be studied and compared for their potential use in future algorithm design and implementation. In this paper, eight different variants of dragonfly algorithm, i.e. classical dragonfly algorithm (DA), hybrid memory-based dragonfly algorithm with differential evolution (DADE), quantum-behaved and Gaussian mutational dragonfly algorithm (QGDA), memory-based hybrid dragonfly algorithm (MHDA), chaotic dragonfly algorithm (CDA), biogeography-based Mexican hat wavelet dragonfly algorithm (BMDA), hybrid Nelder-Mead algorithm and dragonfly algorithm (INMDA), and hybridization of dragonfly algorithm and artificial bee colony (HDA) are applied to solve four industrial chemical process optimization problems. A fuzzy multi-criteria decision making tool in the form of fuzzy-measurement alternatives and ranking according to compromise solution (MARCOS) is adopted to ascertain the relative rankings of the DA variants with respect to computational time, Friedman's rank based on optimal solutions and convergence rate. Based on the comprehensive testing of the algorithms, it is revealed that DADE, QGDA and classical DA are the top three DA variants in solving the industrial chemical process optimization problems under consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of the geometric modeling industry and computer technology, the design and shape optimization of complex curve shapes have now become a very important research topic in CAGD. In this paper, the Hybrid Artificial Hummingbird Algorithm (HAHA) is used to optimize complex composite shape-adjustable generalized cubic Ball (CSGC–Ball, for short) curves. Firstly, the Artificial Hummingbird algorithm (AHA), as a newly proposed meta-heuristic algorithm, has the advantages of simple structure and easy implementation and can quickly find the global optimal solution. However, there are still limitations, such as low convergence accuracy and the tendency to fall into local optimization. Therefore, this paper proposes the HAHA based on the original AHA, combined with the elite opposition-based learning strategy, PSO, and Cauchy mutation, to increase the population diversity of the original algorithm, avoid falling into local optimization, and thus improve the accuracy and rate of convergence of the original AHA. Twenty-five benchmark test functions and the CEC 2022 test suite are used to evaluate the overall performance of HAHA, and the experimental results are statistically analyzed using Friedman and Wilkerson rank sum tests. The experimental results show that, compared with other advanced algorithms, HAHA has good competitiveness and practicality. Secondly, in order to better realize the modeling of complex curves in engineering, the CSGC–Ball curves with global and local shape parameters are constructed based on SGC–Ball basis functions. By changing the shape parameters, the whole or local shape of the curves can be adjusted more flexibly. Finally, in order to make the constructed curve have a more ideal shape, the CSGC–Ball curve-shape optimization model is established based on the minimum curve energy value, and the proposed HAHA is used to solve the established shape optimization model. Two representative numerical examples comprehensively verify the effectiveness and superiority of HAHA in solving CSGC–Ball curve-shape optimization problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the past few years, several metaheuristic algorithms, inspired by the natural processes, have been introduced to solve different complex optimization problems. Studying and comparing the convergence, computational burden and statistical significance of those metaheuristics are helpful for future algorithmic development and their applications. This paper focuses on comparing the optimization performance of classical dragonfly algorithm (DA) and its seven different variants, i.e., hybrid memory-based dragonfly algorithm with differential evolution (DADE), quantum-behaved and Gaussian mutational dragonfly algorithm (QGDA), memory-based hybrid dragonfly algorithm (MHDA), chaotic dragonfly algorithm (CDA), biogeography-based Mexican hat wavelet dragonfly algorithm (BMDA), hybrid Nelder–Mead algorithm and dragonfly algorithm (INMDA) and hybridization of dragonfly algorithm and artificial bee colony (HDA) while solving 80 CEC-2021 benchmark problems. It is observed that the convergence rates of different variants of DA algorithm vary, and the corresponding computational times for such variations are also evaluated. This paper finally ranks DA and its variants according to their convergence efficiency and Friedman test. The DADE, QGDA, BMDA and DA evolve out as the most efficient algorithms for solving the considered CEC-2021 benchmark problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-parameter single objective optimization has been studied for decades. In recent, a new setting is applied in this field based on the consideration that solving difficulty scales exponentially with the increase in dimensionality. Under the new setting, differential evolution (DE) still outstands in performance as before. Meanwhile, a new type of population-based metaheuristic—gaining–sharing knowledge-based algorithm, becomes a dark horse. Furthermore, ensemble of the above two types of algorithm is proposed in the literature. Although such ensemble shows good performance, provided that a more reasonable scheme is used for the communication between the constituent algorithms, better ensemble can be obtained. We believe that the new scheme should be with adaptiveness. In this paper, we propose an adaptive scheme for the communication. According to the scheme, individuals chosen based on fitness and lifetime are exchanged. In fact, in the field of DE, it is rare to consider lifetime of individual. However, lifetime is no less important than fitness in our scheme. In our experiment, our ensemble is compared with seven state-of-the-art algorithms. According to experimental results, our ensemble is comparable to one of the peers and better than the other ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success-history based adaptive differential evolution (SHADE) algorithm is an efficient modified version of the differential evolution (DE) algorithm, and it has been successfully applied to solve some real-world optimization problems. However, to the best of our knowledge, it has been rarely applied in the field of structural optimization. The optimal design of structures with frequency constraints is well known as a highly nonlinear and non-convex optimization problem with many local optima. In this paper, the SHADE algorithm is examined in the context of size optimization of large-scale truss structures with multiple frequency constraints. In SHADE, a historical memory of successful control parameter settings is used to guide the generation of new control parameters. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of SHADE, three truss optimization problems with multiple frequency constraints are presented. The three examples considered in this paper include a 600-bar single-layer dome-shaped truss, a 1180-bar single-layer dome-shaped truss, and a 1410-bar double-layer dome-shaped truss. The results obtained by the SHADE algorithm are presented and compared with the best-known results reported in the literature. Numerical results indicate the effectiveness and superior performance of SHADE over other algorithms in terms of solution accuracy and robustness. It is worth mentioning that in all the three cases considered, the optimal designs obtained by SHADE are the best ones reported in the literature so far. However, SHADE often requires fewer structural analyses than those required by the other algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discounted {0-1} knapsack problem (DKP) is an NP-hard problem that is more challenging than the classical knapsack problem. In this paper, an enhanced version of the sine-cosine algorithm (SCA) called TMHSCA is proposed to solve the DKP. The SCA is a novel metaheuristic algorithm based on sine-cosine theory. Three effective improvements are proposed for the SCA to enhance the convergence speed and exploitation capability of the algorithm. First, by dividing the initial population into three subpopulations using random, greedy and opposition-based learning (OBL) strategies, the diversity of the population can be effectively enhanced. Furthermore, a forward-inverse sine-cosine search that expands the search space by utilizing the worst solution as another target is proposed. The proposed forward-inverse sine-cosine search strategy facilitates the algorithm to explore the easily ignored solution space. The last improvement includes the use of an OBL mutation and the mutation operator of differential evolution at a two-stage mutation, which increases the algorithm's convergence speed and fitness. In our proposed two-stage mutation, the number of mutations can be adaptively adjusted based on the optimization capabilities of the optimal individual. Additionally, a reshuffling repair strategy for repairing infeasible solutions by sorting items into groups to obtain the weight-to-value ratio is proposed. Extensive experiments are conducted on 40 publicly available datasets and are compared to the greedy algorithm, 3 SCAs and 8 competitive baseline methods. The experimental results demonstrate that our method achieves a state-of-the-art performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid growth of the number of web services on the Internet, various service providers provide many similar services with the same function but different quality of service (QoS) attributes. It is a key problem to be solved urgently to select the service composition quickly, meeting the users' QoS requirements from many candidate services. Optimization of web service composition is an NP-hard issue and intelligent optimization algorithms have become the mainstream method to solve this complex problem. This paper proposed a hybrid strategy improved whale optimization algorithm, which is based on the concepts of chaos initialization, nonlinear convergence factor and mutation. By maintaining a balance between exploration and exploitation, the problem of slow or early convergence is overcome to a certain extent. To evaluate its performance more accurately, the proposed algorithm was first tested on a set of standard benchmarks. After, simulations were performed using the real quality of web service dataset. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is better than the original version and other meta-heuristic algorithms on average, as well as verifies the feasibility and stability of web service composition optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meta-heuristic algorithms are widely used in complex problems that cannot be solved by traditional computing methods due to their powerful optimization capabilities. However, for high-complexity problems, the fitness function evaluation may take hours or even days to complete. The surrogate-assisted meta-heuristic algorithm effectively solves this kind of long solution time for the fitness function. Therefore, this paper proposes an efficient surrogate-assisted hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm by combining the surrogate-assisted model with gannet optimization algorithm (GOA) and the differential evolution (DE) algorithm, abbreviated as SAGD. We explicitly propose a new add-point strategy based on information from historical surrogate models, using information from historical surrogate models to allow the selection of better candidates for the evaluation of true fitness values and the local radial basis function (RBF) surrogate to model the landscape of the objective function. The control strategy selects two efficient meta-heuristic algorithms to predict the training model samples and perform updates. A generation-based optimal restart strategy is also incorporated in SAGD to select suitable samples to restart the meta-heuristic algorithm. We tested the SAGD algorithm using seven commonly used benchmark functions and the wireless sensor network (WSN) coverage problem. The results show that the SAGD algorithm performs well in solving expensive optimization problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of operation of neural networks in solving application problems is determined by the success of the stage of their training. The task of learning neural networks is a complex optimization task. Traditional learning algorithms have a number of disadvantages, such as «sticking» in local minimums and a low convergence rate. Modern approaches are based on solving the problems of adjusting the weights of neural networks using metaheuristic algorithms. Therefore, the problem of selecting the optimal set of values of algorithm parameters is important for solving application problems with symmetry properties. This paper studies the application of a new metaheuristic optimization algorithm for weights adjustment—the algorithm of the spiders-cycle, developed by the authors of this article. The approbation of the proposed approach is carried out to adjust the weights of recurrent neural networks used to solve the time series forecasting problem on the example of three different datasets. The results are compared with the results of neural networks trained by the algorithm of the reverse propagation of the error, as well as three other metaheuristic algorithms: particle swarm optimization, bats, and differential evolution. As performance criteria for the comparison of algorithms of global optimization, in this work, descriptive statistics for metrics of the estimation of quality of predictive models, as well as the number of calculations of the target function, are used. The values of the MSE and MAE metrics on the studied datasets were obtained by adjusting the weights of the neural networks using the cycling spider algorithm at 1.32, 25.48, 8.34 and 0.38, 2.18, 1.36, respectively. Compared to the inverse error propagation algorithm, the cycling spider algorithm reduced the value of the error metrics. According to the results of the study, it is concluded that the developed algorithm showed high results and, in the assessment of performance, was not inferior to the existing algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces an improved differential evolution algorithm based on cooperative multi-population (CMp-DE for short), which combines diverse population collaboration mechanisms and catalytic factors into an improved differential evolution framework. By harnessing various population collaboration mechanisms, the algorithm enhances the diversity of individuals within populations during initial iterations and reduces it during later iterations, thereby harmonizing the algorithm's exploratory and exploitative capabilities. Furthermore, a novel mutation operator is proposed that divides the iterative process into exploration and exploitation phases, thereby augmenting the algorithm's global exploration prowess. Lastly, a catalytic operator is introduced to generate new individuals near post-crossover individuals based on a specified rule, which enhances the algorithm's ability to escape local optima and increasing stability. The proposed CMp-DE is benchmarked against the CEC2017 benchmark test functions and compared against 13 algorithms, including five differential evolution algorithms and their variants, as well as eight state-of-the-art metaheuristic optimization algorithms. This evaluation assesses the CMp-DE's solution accuracy, convergence, stability, and scalability. Finally, the applicability of CMp-DE is validated by addressing six practical optimization problems. The experimental results show that CMp-DE surpasses other algorithms in terms of both convergence accuracy and robustness. Moreover, integrating a catalytic operator with other optimization algorithms notably boosts performance in convergence accuracy and stability. The inclusion of the catalytic operator has significantly enhanced the performance of algorithms compared to their performance before its addition. This underscores the potential of the catalytic operator in improving the performance of various algorithms, particularly in terms of convergence accuracy and robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces an improved differential evolution algorithm based on cooperative multi-population (CMp-DE for short), which combines diverse population collaboration mechanisms and catalytic factors into an improved differential evolution framework. By harnessing various population collaboration mechanisms, the algorithm enhances the diversity of individuals within populations during initial iterations and reduces it during later iterations, thereby harmonizing the algorithm's exploratory and exploitative capabilities. Furthermore, a novel mutation operator is proposed that divides the iterative process into exploration and exploitation phases, thereby augmenting the algorithm's global exploration prowess. Lastly, a catalytic operator is introduced to generate new individuals near post-crossover individuals based on a specified rule, which enhances the algorithm's ability to escape local optima and increasing stability. The proposed CMp-DE is benchmarked against the CEC2017 benchmark test functions and compared against 13 algorithms, including five differential evolution algorithms and their variants, as well as eight state-of-the-art metaheuristic optimization algorithms. This evaluation assesses the CMp-DE's solution accuracy, convergence, stability, and scalability. Finally, the applicability of CMp-DE is validated by addressing six practical optimization problems. The experimental results show that CMp-DE surpasses other algorithms in terms of both convergence accuracy and robustness. Moreover, integrating a catalytic operator with other optimization algorithms notably boosts performance in convergence accuracy and stability. The inclusion of the catalytic operator has significantly enhanced the performance of algorithms compared to their performance before its addition. This underscores the potential of the catalytic operator in improving the performance of various algorithms, particularly in terms of convergence accuracy and robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an optimum design algorithm is presented for reinforced concrete folded plate structures. The design provisions are implemented by ACI 318-11 and ACI 318.2-14, which are quite complex to apply. The design variables are divided into three classes. The first class refers to the variables involving the plates, which are the number of supports, thicknesses of the plates, configurations of longitudinal and transverse reinforcement, span length of each plate, and angle of inclination of the inclined plates. The second class consists of the variables involving the auxiliary members' (beams and diaphragms) depth and breadth and the configurations of longitudinal and shear reinforcement. The third class of variables can be the supporting columns, which involve the dimensions of the column along each axis and the configurations of longitudinal and shear reinforcement. The objective function is considered as the total cost of the folded plate structure, which consists of the cost of concrete, reinforcement, and formwork that is required to construct the building. With such formulation, the design problem becomes a discrete nonlinear programming problem. Its solution is obtained by using three different soft computing techniques, which are artificial bee colony, differential evolution, and enhanced beetle antennae search. The enhancement suggested makes use of the population of beetles instead of one, as is the case in the standard algorithm. With this novel improvement, the beetle antennae search algorithm became very efficient. Two folded plate structures are designed by the proposed optimum design algorithm. It is observed that the differential evolution algorithm performed better than the other two metaheuristics and achieved the cheapest solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among population-based metaheuristics, both Differential Evolution (DE) and Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy (CMA-ES) perform outstanding for real parameter single objective optimization. Compared with DE, CMA-ES stagnates much earlier in many occasions. In this paper, we propose CMA-ES with individuals redistribution based on DE, IR-CMA-ES, to address stagnation in CMA-ES. We execute experiments based on two benchmark test suites to compare our algorithm with nine peers. Experimental results show that our IR-CMA-ES is competitive in the field of real parameter single objective optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of Differential Evolution (DE), a number of measures have been used to enhance algorithm. However, most of the measures need revision for fitting ensemble of different combinations of DE operators—ensemble DE algorithm. Meanwhile, although ensemble DE algorithm may show better performance than each of its constituent algorithms, there still exists the possibility of further improvement on performance with the help of revised measures. In this paper, we manage to implement measures into Ensemble of Differential Evolution Variants (EDEV). Firstly, we extend the collecting range of optional external archive of JADE—one of the constituent algorithm in EDEV. Then, we revise and implement the Event-Triggered Impulsive (ETI) control. Finally, Linear Population Size Reduction (LPSR) is used by us. Then, we obtain Improved Ensemble of Differential Evolution Variants (IEDEV). In our experiments, good performers in the CEC competitions on real parameter single objective optimization among population-based metaheuristics, state-of-the-art DE algorithms, or up-to-date DE algorithms are involved. Experiments show that our IEDEV is very competitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salp swarm algorithm (SSA) is a newly swarm-based metaheuristic algorithm that simulate the swimming and foraging behaviour of salps in oceans so to search for global optimum solution. Similarly to other metaheuristic algorithms, SSA suffers from poor convergence rate and stagnation in local optima. In this paper, three different improvements to the original population update process are proposed in order to enhance its exploitation and exploration capabilities. The first modification (MSSA1) introduces the concept of local best information to the followers salps update process allowing a better exploration of local search neighbourhood. The second improvement (MSSA2) provide two followers update process. The first is based on a differential evolution combined with a randomly selected local best position, and the second uses a local search in the global best neighbourhood which is triggered by a non-improvement in the corresponding local best. A third modification to the SSA algorithm (MSSA3) penalises a non-improvement of the local best solution by computing a new corresponding follower's position based on a local jump in the local best neighbourhood for better exploitation. The performances of the proposed algorithms are tested on 27 CEC'15 test suite, and two real-world optimisation problems. A comparative study using nonparametric statistical tests of the obtained results is conducted against those of eight well-known metaheuristics, including the original SSA. The results indicate an overall distinctive performance of all three modification compared to the remaining algorithms, while MSSA1 scored generally better than MSSA2 and MSSA3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an energy efficiency study has been carried out through the moment values of a quadrotor applied in the position control with the differential evolution algorithm (DE), which is under the evolutionary algorithms among meta-heuristic algorithms particle swarm optimization (PSO) which is among swarm-based algorithms and gravity search algorithm (GSA) among physics-based algorithms and charged system search (CSS) algorithm, which are all well-known in the literature. The efficient use of energy in electrically powered flying mechanisms is important in terms of completing its task. The aim of this study is to obtain proportional–integral–derivative (PID) coefficients that minimize the energy consumption caused by quadrotor moments. First of all, 12 PID coefficients calculated with traditional Ziegler Nicholes, and trying-error methods for the control of the quadrotor have been trained with DE, PSO, GSA and CSS algorithms and their cost values have been found for this problem. In the study, optimum PID coefficients have been found separately with each algorithm and torque data giving energy efficiency have been obtained by applying them to the state equations. Although the cost minimization convergence value obtained from DE does not look good compared to other algorithms, it has been observed that the moment values of the obtained PID coefficients in the control program are lower. In the study, it has been shown that the PID coefficients obtained from DE reach the target with approximately less energy than the maximum-moment value of the PSO, which provides the closest moment value. It can be thought that this value contributes to energy consumption in each orbital movement of the quadrotor. The simulation results show that the coefficients obtained from DE provide better energy efficiency and are superior to other algorithms compared in terms of energy efficiency. • PID coefficients for quadrotor control are optimized with DE,PSO,CSS,GSA algorithms • The torque values to be applied to each motor were adjusted with these coefficients • The total force applied with DEPID in the z direction is smaller than others • DEPID consumes less energy than the other algorithms in the paper [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an energy efficiency study has been carried out through the moment values of a quadrotor applied in the position control with the differential evolution algorithm (DE), which is under the evolutionary algorithms among meta-heuristic algorithms particle swarm optimization (PSO) which is among swarm-based algorithms and gravity search algorithm (GSA) among physics-based algorithms and charged system search (CSS) algorithm, which are all well-known in the literature. The efficient use of energy in electrically powered flying mechanisms is important in terms of completing its task. The aim of this study is to obtain proportional–integral–derivative (PID) coefficients that minimize the energy consumption caused by quadrotor moments. First of all, 12 PID coefficients calculated with traditional Ziegler Nicholes, and trying-error methods for the control of the quadrotor have been trained with DE, PSO, GSA and CSS algorithms and their cost values have been found for this problem. In the study, optimum PID coefficients have been found separately with each algorithm and torque data giving energy efficiency have been obtained by applying them to the state equations. Although the cost minimization convergence value obtained from DE does not look good compared to other algorithms, it has been observed that the moment values of the obtained PID coefficients in the control program are lower. In the study, it has been shown that the PID coefficients obtained from DE reach the target with approximately less energy than the maximum-moment value of the PSO, which provides the closest moment value. It can be thought that this value contributes to energy consumption in each orbital movement of the quadrotor. The simulation results show that the coefficients obtained from DE provide better energy efficiency and are superior to other algorithms compared in terms of energy efficiency. • PID coefficients for quadrotor control are optimized with DE,PSO,CSS,GSA algorithms • The torque values to be applied to each motor were adjusted with these coefficients • The total force applied with DEPID in the z direction is smaller than others • DEPID consumes less energy than the other algorithms in the paper [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land readjustment and redistribution (LR) is an important approach used to realize development plans by converting rural lands to urban land and also providing urban infrastructure. The LR problem, which is a complex challenging real-world problem, is a discrete optimization problem because its structure is similar to TSP (Traveling Salesman Problem) and scheduling problems which are combinatorial optimization problems. Since classical mathematical methods are insufficient for solving NP (Nondeterministic Polynomial) optimization problems due to time limitations, meta-heuristic optimization algorithms are commonly utilized for solving these kinds of problems. In this paper, meta-heuristic algorithms including genetic, particle swarm, differential evolution, artificial bee, and tree seed algorithms are utilized for solving LR problems. The stated meta-heuristic algorithms are used by applying spatial-based crossover and mutation operators depending upon the LR problem on each algorithm. Moreover, a synthetic dataset is used to ensure that the quality of the solution obtained is acceptable to everyone, to prove an optimal solution easily. By utilizing the suggested spatial-based crossover and mutation operators, finding the ideal solution is aimed using the synthetic dataset. In addition, five different modifications on TSA (Tree-Seed Algorithm) are performed and used to solve LR problems. All the modified versions of TSA are carried out only by changing the mechanism of seed reproduction. The novel TSA approaches are respectively named as tcTSA (tournament current), tbTSA (tournament best), pbTSA (personal-best based), t2TSA (double tournament), and elTSA (elitism based). In the experimental studies, the hybrid approach, which includes the crossover and mutation operators, is successfully applied in all of the algorithms under equal conditions for a fair comparison. According to experimental results performed using the dataset, it can be clearly stated that especially t2TSA outperforms all the algorithms in terms of performance and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Two metaheuristic algorithms for improvement of the MPPT technique are presented. • The first MPPT method is based on WOA and DE, called the WOADE-MPPT technique. • The second MPPT method, IWOADE-MPPT, is an improvement of the WOADE. • IWOADE-MPPT technique outperforms all traditional MPPT techniques. • Five various shading patterns are studied to analyze the proposed MPPT technique. The photovoltaic output power varies according to the solar radiation and ambient temperature because the operation of the photovoltaic arrays depends on them. Therefore, achieving the maximum photovoltaic power under different shading patterns is a key factor in the performance improvement of photovoltaic systems. An efficient Maximum Power Point Tracking technique is needed to distinguish the global maximum power point from the local ones, as the traditional techniques are prone to fail. This paper proposes two hybrid meta-heuristic algorithms to improve the maximum power point tracking technique of partially shaded photovoltaic systems. The first proposed maximum power point tracking technique is based on the Whale Optimization Algorithm and Differential Evolution algorithms. The second proposed maximum power point tracking technique is an improved version of the first proposed technique. Both proposed techniques are highly proficient in enhancing the photovoltaic system's efficiency in shaded and unshaded conditions. The maximum power point tracking technique is studied for evaluating the performance based on two traditional algorithms, Whale Optimization Algorithm and Differential Evolution, and two hybrid proposed algorithms. The simulation results show the second proposed maximum power point tracking technique finds the global power points faster and offers better performance than the first proposed technique, which itself outperforms two traditional maximum power point tracking techniques concerning a faster rate of convergence and higher efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bridges are one of the fundamental infrastructure assets that are vital for economic growth and public welfare. Over the past few decades, the numbers of deteriorating bridges have drastically escalated raising concerns for serviceable, safe and functional transportation networks. This state of affairs poses a paramount challenge especially when coupled with the need to address social and environmental constraints. Accordingly, this current research paper proposes an automated three-component model for bridge maintenance optimization at both project and network levels. The first component aims at identifying the physical characteristics of the tackled bridge inventory. The second component encompasses designing a multi-objective optimization model to determine the optimal set of maintenance plans through four principal objective functions. These functions comprise maximization of performance condition of bridge elements, minimization of agency and user costs, minimization of duration of traffic disruption and minimization of environmental impact. In the multi-objective optimization model, an exponential chaotic differential evolution (ECDE) algorithm is introduced in an attempt to circumvent the drawbacks of convergence speed and search behavior of classical meta-heuristics. The third component combines criteria importance through inter-criteria correlation (CRITIC), complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) and grey relational analysis (GRA) to select the most optimum maintenance plan for each study period. Comparison results revealed that ECDE-based Sinusoidal algorithm managed to improve the performance diagnostics of classical meta-heuristics by values ranged from 49.2% to 73.1% over the multi-year maintenance plans. The results of benchmark test functions exemplified that ECDE-based Sinusoidal algorithm performed better than genetic and differential evolution algorithms by 114.2% and 79.5%, respectively. The developed integrated model is expected to assist infrastructure managers in executing optimized and sustainable maintenance budget plans within various planning scenarios. • Bibliometric map is presented to derive the key shortcomings of previous research. • A chaotic-based optimization model is formulated for bridge maintenance planning in both project and network levels. • A hybrid multi-criteria decision-making algorithm is designed for prioritizing the Pareto optimum maintenance plans. • A computer aided application is developed using C#.net and Matlab. • The developed multi-objective optimization model is validated using actual case studies and benchmark test functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feature selection is an important data processing method to reduce dimension of the raw datasets while preserving the information as much as possible. In this paper, an enhanced version of Black Widow Optimization Algorithm called SDABWO is proposed to solve the feature selection problem. The Black Widow Optimization Algorithm (BWO) is a new population-based meta-heuristic algorithm inspired by the evolution process of spider population. Three main improvements were included into the BWO to overcome the shortcoming of low accuracy, slow convergence speed and being easy to fall into local optima. Firstly, a novel strategy for selecting spouses by calculating the weight of female spiders and the distance between spiders is proposed. By applying the strategy to the original algorithm, it has faster convergence speed and higher accuracy. The second improvement includes the use of mutation operator of differential evolution at mutation phase of BWO which helps the algorithm escape from the local optima. And then, three key parameters are set to adjust adaptively with the increase of iteration times. To confirm and validate the performance of the improved BWO, other 10 algorithms are used to compared with the SDABWO on 25 benchmark functions. The results show that the proposed algorithm enhances the exploitation ability, improves the convergence speed and is more stable when solving optimization problems. Furthermore, the proposed SDABWO algorithm is employed for feature selection. Twelve standard datasets from UCI repository prove that SDABWO-based method has stronger search ability in the search space of feature selection than the other five popular feature selection methods. These results confirm the capability of the proposed method simultaneously improve the classification accuracy while reducing the dimensions of the original datasets. Therefore, SDABWO-based method was found to be one of the most promising for feature selection problem over other approaches that are currently used in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new compact algorithm is proposed. Two sinusoidal formulas are used to automatically adjust the crossover rate and the mutation scaling factor in the compact Differential Evolution (cDE) metaheuristic. The proposed algorithm, called Compound Sinusoidal cDE, CScDE, is compared to seven state-of-the-art compact algorithms on the well-known BBOB test-bed, the CEC-2014 test suite for continuous optimisation, as well as five real-world optimisation problems chosen from the CEC-2011 benchmarks. The CScDE algorithm outperformed its competitors for most problem categories and over most dimensions. It is also compared to some well-established population-based metaheuristics. • A compact compound sinusoidal differential evolution, CScDE, is proposed. • CScDE uses sinusoidal formulas to adjust the parameters of compact DE. • Both binomial and exponential crossover are tested. • CScDE is applied on 89 reference problems with several dimensions. • CScDE outperformed state-of-the-art compact algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is always desirable to keep the number of components in compositional simulation low due to the high CPU time and storage space requirement; on the other hand, the model's accuracy in describing the phase behavior decreases with reducing the number of components. As a result, an optimal lumping approach is needed to group the components to attain high accuracy in the least amount of time. This paper's main objective is to find the best lumping scheme to maintain the split model's accuracy and reach an optimal lumped model in the least amount of time. In accordance with this purpose, five different evolutionary-based metaheuristic optimization algorithms known as genetic algorithm (GA), differential evolution (DE), harmony search (HS), imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA), and shuffled-frog leaping algorithm (SFLA) are incorporated into the objective function developed to cluster heavy fractions using the k-means algorithm. To find the optimal algorithm, the best cost of the objective function and the number of function evaluations (NFE) have been compared, and the final results were substantiated using flash calculation outputs, such as density, viscosity, phase diagram, and Wilson plot. The results indicate that the proposed algorithms are capable of finding the optimal lumped model with high accuracy for all reservoir samples tested in this study. This study also marked ICA as the best evolutionary-based optimization algorithm that can be used in clustering problems. • Clustering approach using Evolutionary-based algorithms to lump heavy-end component. • The order of algorithms efficiency to lump is ICA > SFLA > GA ≈ DE ≫ HS. • ICA and SFLA attain the best cost in the lowest number of function evaluation. • The efficiency of ICA does not reduce with the increase in the number of components. • 16 components are adequate enough to present ICA-16 as the optimum lumping strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an optimal methodology based on the Differential Evolution algorithm for obtaining the set of duty cycles of a recently proposed power electronics converter with input current ripple cancelation capability. The converter understudy was recently introduced to the state-of-the-art as the interleaved connection of two unequal converters to achieve low input current ripple. A latter contribution proposed a so-called proportional strategy. The strategy can be described as the equations to relate the duty cycles of the unequal power stages. This article proposes a third switching strategy that provides a lower input current ripple than the proportional strategy. This is made by considering duty cycles independently of each other instead of proportionally. The proposed method uses the Differential Evolution algorithm to determine the optimal switching pattern that allows high quality at the input current side, given the reactive components, the switching frequency, and power levels. The mathematical model of the converter is analyzed, and thus, the decision variables and the optimization problem are well set. The proposed methodology is validated through numerical experimentation, which shows that the proposed method achieves lower input current ripples than the proportional strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differential evolution is an effective and practical approach that is widely applied for solving global optimization problems. Nevertheless, its effectiveness and scalability are decreased when the problems' dimension is increased. Hence, this paper is devoted to proposing a novel DE algorithm named quantum-based avian navigation optimizer algorithm (QANA) inspired by the extraordinary precision navigation of migratory birds during long-distance aerial paths. In the QANA, the population is distributed by partitioning into multi flocks to explore the search space effectively using proposed self-adaptive quantum orientation and quantum-based navigation consisted of two mutation strategies, DE/quantum/I and DE/quantum/II. Except for the first iteration, each flock is assigned using an introduced success-based population distribution (SPD) policy to one of the quantum mutation strategies. Meanwhile, the information flow is shared through the population using a new communication topology named V-echelon. Furthermore, we introduce two long-term and short-term memories to provide meaningful knowledge for partial landscape analysis and a qubit-crossover operator to generate the next search agents. The effectiveness and scalability of the proposed QANA were extensively evaluated using benchmark functions CEC 2018 and CEC 2013 as LSGO problems. The results were statistically analyzed by the Wilcoxon signed-rank sum test, ANOVA, and mean absolute error tests. Finally, the applicability of the QANA to solve real-world problems was evaluated by four engineering problems. The experimental results and statistical analysis prove that the QANA is superior to the competitor DE and swarm intelligence algorithms in test functions CEC 2018 and CEC 2013, with overall effectiveness of 80.46% and 73.33%, respectively. • Proposing an optimizer algorithm (QANA) inspired by migratory birds' navigation behaviors. • Introducing LTM and STM memories to share information and partial landscape analysis. • Introducing a V-echelon topology to spread information flow throughout search agents. • Introducing a quantum mutation strategy equipped by two meaningful search strategies. • The proposed QANA optimizer is very competitive and superior to compared algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The execution time that takes to perform numerical simulation of a chaotic oscillator mainly depends on the time-step h. This paper shows that the optimization of chaotic oscillators can be enhanced by estimating the highest h in either one-step or multi-step methods. Four chaotic oscillators are used as a case study, and the optimization of their Kaplan-Yorke dimension ( D K Y ) is performed by applying three metaheuristics, namely: particle swarm optimization (PSO), many optimizing liaison (MOL), and differential evolution (DE) algorithms. Three representative one-step and three multi-step methods are used to solve the four chaotic oscillators, for which the estimation of the highest h is obtained from their stability analysis. The optimization results show the effectiveness of using a high h value for the six numerical methods in reducing execution time while maximizing the positive Lyapunov exponent ( L E + ) and D K Y of the chaotic oscillators by applying PSO, MOL, and DE algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a modified flower pollination algorithm (MFPA) is proposed to improve the performance of the classical algorithm and to tackle the nonlinear equation systems widely used in engineering and science fields. In addition, the differential evolution (DE) is integrated with MFPA to strengthen its exploration operator in a new variant called HFPA. Those two algorithms were assessed using 23 well-known mathematical unimodal and multimodal test functions and 27 well-known nonlinear equation systems, and the obtained outcomes were extensively compared with those of eight well-known metaheuristic algorithms under various statistical analyses and the convergence curve. The experimental findings show that both MFPA and HFPA are competitive together and, compared to the others, they could be superior and competitive for most test cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]