An Improved Flow Direction Algorithm for Engineering Optimization Problems

Flow Direction Algorithm (FDA) has better searching performance than some traditional optimization algorithms. To give the basic Flow Direction Algorithm more effective searching ability and avoid multiple local minima under the searching space, and enable it to obtain better search results, an improved FDA based on the Levy flight strategy and the self-renewable method (LSRFDA) was proposed in this paper. The Levy flight strategy and the self-renewable approach were added to the basic Flow Direction Algorithm. Random parameters generated by the Levy flight strategy can increase the algorithm's diversity of feasible solutions in a short calculation time and greatly enhance the operational efficiency of the algorithm. The self-renewable method lets the algorithm quickly obtain a better possible solution and jump to the local solution space. Then, this paper tested different mathematical testing functions, including low-dimensional and high-dimensional functions, and the test results were compared with those of different algorithms. This paper includes iterative figures, box plots, and search paths to show the different performances of the LSRFDA. Finally, this paper calculated different engineering optimization problems. The test results show that the proposed algorithm in this paper has better searching ability and quicker searching speed than the basic Flow Direction Algorithm.