Modified simulated annealing algorithm for optimal design of steel structures

Structural optimization aims to design structures under certain constraints to achieve better behavior and have a proper manufacturing cost. This type of optimization corresponds to highly non-linear and non-convex problems including several local optima. Therefore, to solve such problems effectively, designers need to use adequate optimization methods which can make a good balance between the computational cost and the quality of solutions. In this paper the modified simulated annealing algorithm (MSAA) is employed to solve optimal design of steel structures. MSSA is a newly improved version of the simulated annealing (SA) algorithm with three modifications: preliminary exploration, search step and a new probability of acceptance. The performance, robustness and applicability of the MSAA are demonstrated through six structural optimization problems. Obtained results in all considered examples indicate that the MSAA is superior to several other methods in existing literature in terms of the quality of solution and convergence speed.