A CHARGED SYSTEM SEARCH WITH A FLY TO BOUNDARY METHOD FOR DISCRETE OPTIMUM DESIGN OF TRUSS STRUCTURES

A discrete version of the Charged System Search algorithm (CSS) is developed to optimize truss structures with discrete variables. The discrete CSS algorithm, similar to its original version, is based on some laws from electrostatics and the Newtonian mechanics. Each agent in the CSS is considered as a charged sphere having a uniform volume charge density which can affect an electric force to the other ones. However, contrary to the original CSS, for the discrete CSS, the affected forces can be attractive or repulsive. In addition, a new approach is presented to handle the constraints, which is called the fly to boundary method. Some design examples are tested using the new method and the results are compared to those of other meta-heuristic algorithms to demonstrate the effectiveness of the present method.