Application of Metaheuristic Algorithms in Truss Structure Sizing Optimization

Field studies of structural optimization have gained increased attention due to the rapid development of metaheuristic algorithms. One widely known metaheuristic algorithm, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), has been extensively used to solve many problems and is reported to have fast convergence behavior and good accuracy. As many problems become more complex, studies have been focused on improving PSO searching capability. This study presents the application of PSO and its variants in optimizing truss structures. The performances of PSO and several PSO variants, namely, linearly decreasing inertia weight PSO (LDW-PSO) and bare bones PSO (BB-PSO), were compared and investigated. All optimization algorithms were tested in 72-bar and 25-bar spatial truss problems. The results indicate that BBPSO was the best algorithm in terms of optimum solution, consistency, and convergence behavior.