Particle Swarm Optimization

How the search algorithm known as particle swarm optimization performs is demonstrated. Particle swarm optimization is applied to structural design problems, but the method has a much wider range of possible applications. Improvements are contributed to the particle swarm optimization algorithm and conclusions and recommendations as to the utility of the algorithm are made. Results of numerical experiments for both continuous and discrete applications are presented. The results indicate that the particle swarm optimization algorithm does locate the constrained minimum design in both continuous and discrete applications and problems with multiple local minima, with very good precision. Additionally, particle swarm optimization has the potential of efficient computation with very large numbers of concurrently operating processors. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]