Optimum design of tower structures using Firefly Algorithm

SUMMARY The Firefly Algorithm (FA) as a recent new meta‐heuristic optimization algorithm is developed for determining optimum design of tower shaped structures. The FA mimics the social behavior of fireflies, which communicate, search for pray and find mates using bioluminescence with varied flashing patterns. In this paper, an adaptive FA is presented that utilizes the feasible‐based method to handle constraints. This method is effective in improving the convergence and also suitable for expensive optimization tasks such as large‐scale structures. Three tower structures are selected to evaluate the performance of the algorithm. The results are better than the other results proposed in the literature and confirm the validity of the proposed algorithm. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.