A shape optimization procedure based on the artificial bee colony algorithm

The objective of this study is to suggest a method for applying the artificial bee colony algorithm (ABCA) to shape optimization problems. The ABCA was not originally developed for shape optimization problems; for this reason, a few schemes are suggested in this study. Since shape optimization is performed to optimize the boundary of a structure, the discrete variable that defines the boundary of a structure is introduced, and the modified fitness value, employed bee phase and onlooker bee phase are proposed. Using numerical examples of 2-D structural shape optimization to verify the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed ABCA compared with the bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization (BESO) method, we verify that shape optimization problems can be solved more effectively using the suggested ABCA than the BESO method. This method can be easily extended to static nonlinear, dynamic and 3-D shape optimization problems due to its simplicity.