Rank-based ant colony algorithms for truss weight minimization with discrete variables

One variant of the ant colony optimization (ACO) metaheuristic, known as rank-based ant system (RBAS), is proposed for weight minimization of structures involving discrete design variables. Stress and displacements constraints are handled using a penalty technique, and the structural analysis is performed by the finite element method. Results obtained for several discrete weight minimization problems show that the RBAS algorithm implemented is effective and competitive when compared with results found by genetic algorithms and another RBAS variant. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.