A balanced whale optimization algorithm for constrained engineering design problems

Abstract In this study, two novel effective strategies composed of Levy flight and chaotic local search are synchronously introduced into the whale optimization algorithm (WOA) to guide the swarm and further promote the harmony between the inclusive exploratory and neighborhood-informed capacities of the conventional technique and investigate the core searching capabilities of WOA in dealing with optimization tasks. However, the conventional WOA may simply be stuck at local optima or the global best may not be obtained successfully when tackling more complex optimization landscapes, including the multimodal and high dimensional scenarios. To substantiate the efficacy of the enhanced method, it is compared to a set of well-regarded variants of particle swarm optimization and differential evolution. The used benchmark problems are composed of unimodal, multimodal, and fixed-dimensions multimodal functions. Additionally, the proposed balanced method is applied to realize three practical, well-known mathematical models such as tension/compression spring, welded beam, pressure vessel design, three-bar truss design, and I-beam design problems. The experimental results and analysis reveal that the proposed algorithm can outperform other competitors in terms of the convergence speed and the quality of solutions. Promisingly, the proposed method can be treated as an effective and efficient auxiliary tool for more complex optimization models and scenarios.