A dual-population Constrained Many-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm based on reference point and angle easing strategy

Abstract

Constrained many-objective optimization problems (CMaOPs) have gradually emerged in various areas and are significant for this field. These problems often involve intricate Pareto frontiers (PFs) that are both refined and uneven, thereby making their resolution difficult and challenging. Traditional algorithms tend to over prioritize convergence, leading to premature convergence of the decision variables, which greatly reduces the possibility of finding the constrained Pareto frontiers (CPFs). This results in poor overall performance. To tackle this challenge, our solution involves a novel dual-population constrained many-objective evolutionary algorithm based on reference point and angle easing strategy (dCMaOEA-RAE). It relies on a relaxed selection strategy utilizing reference points and angles to facilitate cooperation between dual populations by retaining solutions that may currently perform poorly but contribute positively to the overall optimization process. We are able to guide the population to move to the optimal feasible solution region in a timely manner in order to obtain a series of superior solutions can be obtained. Our proposed algorithm’s competitiveness across all three evaluation indicators was demonstrated through experimental results conducted on 77 test problems. Comparisons with ten other cutting-edge algorithms further validated its efficacy.

Keywords

• Many-objective optimization
• Evolutionary algorithm
• Constraint handling
• Dual-population
• Easing strategy