Simplified hybrid fireworks algorithm

As a relatively new swarm intelligence algorithm, the fireworks algorithm (FWA) has been applied to solve lots of real-world optimization problem. However, there are still some shortcomings in the FWA algorithms. The search equation of FWA is relatively simple. Since the search mechanism of FWA mainly relies on the explosion sparks, the exploration and exploitation abilities of the algorithm are limited. In order to improve the performance of FWA, a simplified hybrid fireworks algorithm (SHFWA) is proposed in this paper. In SHFWA, to enhance the exploitation ability, a modified search formula is designed for core firework swarm. To enhance the exploration ability, for each firework swarm, another way of generating sparks-harmony spark is designed. In the conventional fireworks algorithm, the calculation of the number of sparks generated by each firework and the calculation of amplitude of explosion for each firework are very complex. In SHFWA, a simplified method is employed to compute these two variables. By introducing these methods, SHFWA is easy to implement and is good at exploration and exploitation. The proposed algorithm is tested on 40 benchmark functions. The experimental results demonstrate that SHFWA performs effectively and competitively when compared with several reported algorithms. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.