Optimum design of skeletal structures using imperialist competitive algorithm

A novel optimization method is presented based on a socio-politically motivated strategy, called imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA). ICA is a multi-agent algorithm with each agent being a country, which is either a colony or an imperialist. These countries form some empires in the search space. Movement of the colonies toward their related imperialist, and imperialistic competition among the empires, form the basis of the ICA. During these movements, the powerful imperialists are reinforced and the weak ones are weakened and gradually collapsed, directing the algorithm towards optimum points. Here, the ICA is utilized to optimize the skeletal structures. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.