Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm for Optimal Design of Discrete Truss Structures

摘要

This paper develops an ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm, a relatively bio-inspired approach to solve problems of optimal design of discrete structures in the presence of multiple constraints. In the present work is a summary of some of the research for the optimization of pin-jointed and rigid-jointed frames and an overview of the ACO algorithm. Subsequently, a modified ACO, imitating the behavior of real ant group, is illustrated and detailed to reach a global minimum weight of truss structures in various conditions. Some heuristic strategies and attentions are also put forward to benchmarking the algorithms and to their reliability and robustness. Ultimately, several well-studied examples are used to demonstrate the efficiency and versatility of the proposed algorithm and model.