Constraints Separation Based Evolutionary Multitasking for Constrained Multi-Objective Optimization Problems

Constrained multi-objective optimization problems(CMOPs)generally contain multiple constraints,which not only form multiple discrete feasible regions but also reduce the size of optimal feasible regions,thus they propose serious challenges for solvers.Among all constraints,some constraints are highly correlated with optimal feasible regions;thus they can provide effective help to find feasible Pareto front.However,most of the existing constrained multi-objective evolutionary algorithms tackle constraints by regarding all constraints as a whole or directly ignoring all constraints,and do not consider judging the relations among constraints and do not utilize the information from promising single constraints.Therefore,this paper attempts to identify promising single constraints and utilize them to help solve CMOPs.To be specific,a CMOP is transformed into a multitasking optimization problem,where multiple auxiliary tasks are created to search for the Pareto fronts that only consider a single constraint respectively.Besides,an auxiliary task priority method is designed to identify and retain some high-related auxiliary tasks according to the information of relative positions and dominance relationships.Moreover,an improved tentative method is designed to find and transfer useful knowledge among tasks.Experimental results on three benchmark test suites and 11 realworld problems with different numbers of constraints show better or competitive performance of the proposed method when compared with eight state-of-the-art peer methods.

Evolutionary Multitasking With Global and Local Auxiliary Tasks for Constrained Multi-Objective Optimization

Constrained multi-objective optimization problems(CMOPs) include the optimization of objective functions and the satisfaction of constraint conditions, which challenge the solvers.To solve CMOPs, constrained multi-objective evolutionary algorithms(CMOEAs) have been developed. However, most of them tend to converge into local areas due to the loss of diversity. Evolutionary multitasking(EMT) is new model of solving complex optimization problems, through the knowledge transfer between the source task and other related tasks. Inspired by EMT, this paper develops a new EMT-based CMOEA to solve CMOPs, in which the main task, a global auxiliary task, and a local auxiliary task are created and optimized by one specific population respectively. The main task focuses on finding the feasible Pareto front(PF), and global and local auxiliary tasks are used to respectively enhance global and local diversity. Moreover, the global auxiliary task is used to implement the global search by ignoring constraints, so as to help the population of the main task pass through infeasible obstacles. The local auxiliary task is used to provide local diversity around the population of the main task, so as to exploit promising regions. Through the knowledge transfer among the three tasks, the search ability of the population of the main task will be significantly improved. Compared with other state-of-the-art CMOEAs, the experimental results on three benchmark test suites demonstrate the superior or competitive performance of the proposed CMOEA.

A Survey on Intelligent Optimization Approaches to Boiler Combustion Optimization

This paper reviews the researches on boiler combustion optimization,which is an important direction in the field of energy saving and emission reduction.Many methods have been used to deal with boiler combustion optimization,among which evolutionary computing(EC)techniques have recently gained much attention.However,the existing researches are not sufficiently focused and have not been summarized systematically.This has led to slow progress of research on boiler combustion optimization and has obstacles in the application.This paper introduces a comprehensive survey of the works of intelligent optimization algorithms in boiler combustion optimization and summarizes the contributions of different optimization algorithms.Finally,this paper discusses new research challenges and outlines future research directions,which can guide boiler combustion optimization to improve energy efficiency and reduce pollutant emission concentrations.

Differential Evolution with Level-Based Learning Mechanism

To address complex single objective global optimization problems,a new Level-Based Learning Differential Evolution(LBLDE)is developed in this study.In this approach,the whole population is sorted from the best to the worst at the beginning of each generation.Then,the population is partitioned into multiple levels,and different levels are used to exert different functions.In each level,a control parameter is used to select excellent exemplars from upper levels for learning.In this case,the poorer individuals can choose more learning exemplars to improve their exploration ability,and excellent individuals can directly learn from the several best individuals to improve the quality of solutions.To accelerate the convergence speed,a difference vector selection method based on the level is developed.Furthermore,specific crossover rates are assigned to individuals at the lowest level to guarantee that the population can continue to update during the later evolutionary process.A comprehensive experiment is organized and conducted to obtain a deep insight into LBLDE and demonstrates the superiority of LBLDE in comparison with seven peer DE variants.