Structural Design of Tall and Special Buildings, cilt.28, sa.9, 2019 (SCI-Expanded)
Total potential optimization using metaheuristic algorithm (TPO/MA) is an alternative method in structural analyses, and it is a black-box application for nonlinear analyses. In the study, an advanced TPO/MA using hybridization of several metaheuristic algorithms is investigated to solve large-scale structural analyses problems. The new generation algorithms considered in the study are flower pollination algorithm (FPA), teaching learning-based optimization, and Jaya algorithm (JA). Also, the proposed methods are compared with methodologies using classic and previously used algorithms such as differential evaluation, particle swarm optimization, and harmony search. Numerical investigations were carried out for structures with four to 150 degrees of freedoms (design variables). It has been seen that in several runs, JA gets trapped into local solutions. For that reason, four different hybrid algorithms using fundamentals of JA and phases of other algorithms, namely, JA using Lévy flights, JA using Lévy flights and linear distribution, JA with consequent student phase, and JA with probabilistic student phase (JA1SP), are developed. It is observed that among the variants tried, JA1SP is seen to be more effective on approaching to the global optimum without getting trapped in a local solution.