Optimum design of steel frame structures by a modified dolphin echolocation algorithm

Dolphin echolocation (DE) optimization algorithm is a recently developed meta-heuristic in which echolocation behavior of Dolphins is utilized for seeking a design space. The computational performance of meta-heuristic algorithms is highly dependent to its internal parameters. But the computational time of adjusting these parameters is usually extensive. The DE is an efficient optimization algorithm as it includes few internal parameters compared with other meta-heuristics. In the present paper a modified Dolphin echolocation (MDE) algorithm is proposed for optimization of steel frame structures. In the MDE the step locations are determined using one-dimensional chaotic maps and this improves the convergence behavior of the algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed MDE algorithm is illustrated in three benchmark steel frame optimization test examples. Results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed MDE algorithm in finding better solutions compared to standard DE and other existing algorithms.