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Computational Mechanics using High Performance Computing
Edited by: B.H.V. Topping
Chapter 13
Parallel Evolutionary Optimization of Structures
G. Thierauf and J. Cai
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Essen, Essen, Germany
By introducing a variable coding technique, a parallel optimization method
based on a combination of GAs and ESs is presented. The
advantages of both GAs and ESs, such as coding of genetic information
and adaptation of optimization parameters, are enhanced by this new method.
Enhanced by the availability of high-speed parallel computing
technique, zero-order and direct optimization methods gained renewed interest
since the early eighties. Influenced by this development, stochastic search
methods and Darwinian methods have been the subject of many publications during
the past fifteen years.
Among these, the genetic algorithms (GAs) and the evolution strategies (ESs) are two
of the most discussed search strategies.
In this Chapter, the basic concepts of GAs and ESs are
first briefly described. Subsequently, by introducing a variable
coding technique, a parallel optimization method based on a combination of GAs and ESs is presented.
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