A Dual-Population-Based Evolutionary Algorithm for Constrained Multiobjective Optimization

The main challenge in constrained multiobjective optimization problems (CMOPs) is to appropriately balance convergence, diversity and feasibility. Their imbalance can easily cause the failure of a constrained multiobjective evolutionary algorithm (CMOEA) in converging to the Pareto-optimal front with diverse feasible solutions. To address this challenge, we propose a dual-population-based evolutionary algorithm, named c-DPEA, for CMOPs. c-DPEA is a cooperative coevolutionary algorithm which maintains two collaborative and complementary populations, termed Population1 and Population2. In c-DPEA, a novel self-adaptive penalty function, termed saPF, is designed to preserve competitive infeasible solutions in Population1. On the other hand, infeasible solutions in Population2 are handled using a feasibility-oriented approach. To maintain an appropriate balance between convergence and diversity in c-DPEA, a new adaptive fitness function, named bCAD, is developed. Extensive experiments on three popular test suites comprehensively validate the design components of c-DPEA. Comparison against six state-of-the-art CMOEAs demonstrates that c-DPEA is significantly superior or comparable to the contender algorithms on most of the test problems.

Automated summary

The study introduces a dual-population-based evolutionary algorithm, c-DPEA, for constrained multiobjective optimization problems (CMOPs), which achieves a balance between convergence and diversity through the design of novel self-adaptive penalty and fitness functions. Extensive experiments demonstrate the superiority of c-DPEA over six state-of-the-art CMOEAs on most test problems.