A New Structural Optimization Method Based on Group Hunting of Animals: Hunting Search (HuS)

This paper presents a novel structural optimization algorithm based on group hunting of animals such as lions, wolves, and dolphins. Although these hunters have differences in the way of hunting but they are common in that all of them look for a prey in a group. The hunters encircle the prey and gradually tighten the ring of siege until they catch the prey. In addition, each member of the group corrects its position based on its own position and the position of other members. If the prey escapes from the ring, the hunters reorganize the group to siege the prey again. A benchmark numerical optimization problems is presented to show how the algorithm works. Three benchmark structural optimization problems are also presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed Hunting Search (HuS) algorithm for structural optimization. The objective in these problems is to minimize the weight of bar trusses. Both sizing and layout optimization variables are included, too. The proposed algorithm is compared with other global optimization methods such as CMLPSA (Corrected Multi-Level & Multi-Point Simulated Annealing) and HS (Harmony Search). The results indicate that the proposed method is a powerful search and optimization technique. It yields comparable and in some cases, better solutions compared to those obtained using current algorithms when applied to structural optimization problems.