Solving engineering optimization problems with tabu/scatter search

Abstract

This paper introduces an adaptation of a multiobjective tabu/scatter search to deal with nonlinear discrete, mixed-integer constrained engineering optimization problems. The problem is reduced to a bi-objective problem (the objective function and the constraint violation function). This approach eliminates the use of penalties for constraint handling. Its performance was proved with different standard engineering optimization problems, including mathematical function minimization and structural engineering. The results show that the proposed method performs well in terms of efficiency and robustness.