Optimum design of steel frames using Cuckoo Search algorithm with Levy flights

In the last two decades, many researchers have implemented various kinds of meta-heuristic algorithms in order to overcome the complex nature of the optimum design of structures. In this paper, the optimum design of two-dimensional steel frames for discrete variables based on the Cuckoo Search (CS) algorithm is developed. The CS is one of the recently developed population-based algorithms inspired by the behavior of some cuckoo species in combination with the Levy flight behavior of some birds and insects. The design algorithm is supposed to obtain minimum weight frame through suitable selection of sections from a standard set of steel sections such as the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) wide-flange (W) shapes. Strength constraints of AISC load and resistance factor design specification and displacement constraints are imposed on frames. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the CS, low-weight design and performance comparisons are made between the CS and other algorithms for some benchmark frames. Copyright (c) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.