Modified Backtracking Search Optimization Algorithm Inspired by Simulated Annealing for Constrained Engineering Optimization Problems

Abstract

The backtracking search optimization algorithm (BSA) is a population-based evolutionary algorithm for numerical optimization problems. BSA has a powerful global exploration capacity while its local exploitation capability is relatively poor. This affects the convergence speed of the algorithm. In this paper, we propose a modified BSA inspired by simulated annealing (BSAISA) to overcome the deficiency of BSA. In the BSAISA, the amplitude control factor (<i>F</i>) is modified based on the Metropolis criterion in simulated annealing. The redesigned <i>F</i> could be adaptively decreased as the number of iterations increases and it does not introduce extra parameters. A self-adaptive <i>ε</i>-constrained method is used to handle the strict constraints. We compared the performance of the proposed BSAISA with BSA and other well-known algorithms when solving thirteen constrained benchmarks and five engineering design problems. The simulation results demonstrated that BSAISA is more effective than BSA and more competitive with other well-known algorithms in terms of convergence speed.