Hybrid Cuckoo Search Algorithm based on Powell Search for Constrained Engineering Design Optimization

Cuckoo search (CS) has been recently proposed as a population-based optimization algorithm and it is has so far been successfully applied in a variety of fields. An efficient hybrid cuckoo search algorithm (HCSA) based on Powell direct search method is proposed for solving constrained engineering design optimization problems. The inertia weight of Levy flights is introduced to balance the ability of global and local search. The Powell local search technique is used to improve the best approximation found by the cuckoo search algorithm. The hybridization of cuckoo search algorithm and Powell search method may provide a more effective trade-off between exploitation and exploration of the search space. The proposed hybrid method is tested based on three widely used benchmark constrained functions and three well-known constrained engineering design optimization problems, which shows that HCSA is of better or competitive performances when compared with several existing algorithms. Key–Words: cuckoo search algorithm, Powell search, constrained optimization, engineering design optimization.