An improved particle swarm optimizer for truss structure optimization

Abstract

This paper presents an improved particle swarm optimizer (IPSO) for solving truss structure optimization problems. The algorithm is based on the particle swarm optimizer with passive congregation (PSOPC) and a harmony search (HS) scheme. It handles the problem-specified constraints using a 'fly-back mechanism' method and the variables' constraints using the harmony search scheme. The IPSO is tested on a planar truss structure optimization problem and is compared with the PSO and the PSOPC algorithm respectively. The result shows that the IPSO method presented in this paper is able to accelerate the convergence rate effectively and has the fastest convergence rate among these three other algorithms. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.