A comparison of numerical methods for optimizing even aged stand management

1990 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 961-969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauri T. Valsta

A two-species, whole-stand, deterministic growth model was combined with three optimization methods to derive management regimes for species composition, thinnings, and rotation age, with the objective of maximizing soil expectation value. The methods compared were discrete time – discrete state dynamic programming, direct search using the Hooke and Jeeves algorithm, and random search. Optimum solutions for each of the methods varied considerably, required unequal amounts of computational time, and were not equally stable. Dynamic programming located global optimal solutions but did not determine them accurately, owing to discretized state space. Direct search yielded the largest objective function values with comparable computational effort, although the likelihood of finding a global optimum solution was high only for smaller problems with up to two or three thinnings during the rotation. Random search solutions varied considerably with regard to growing stock level and species composition and did not define a consistent management guideline. In general, direct search and dynamic programming appeared to be superior to random search.

2013 ◽  
Vol 816-817 ◽  
pp. 629-633
Author(s):  
Pavel Raska ◽  
Ulrych Zdenek

The paper deals with the comparison of selected optimization methods - Random Search, Hill Climbing, Tabu Search, Local Search, Downhill Simplex, Simulated Annealing, Differential Evolution and Evolution Strategy-used to search for the global optimum of the objective function specified for each simulation model. These optimization methods have to be modified in such a way that they are applicable for discrete event simulation optimization purposes. Three discrete event simulation models were built (using ARENA simulation software) which reflect real industrial systems. Then the optimization methods were tested on four testing functions. The evaluation method which uses information from the box plot characteristics was specified.


Author(s):  
Pinak Tulpule ◽  
Stephanie Stockar ◽  
Vincenzo Marano ◽  
Giorgio Rizzoni

This paper deals with optimization algorithms for energy management of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs). In order to maximize fuel economy of a PHEV, the battery should attain its lowest admissible state of charge at the end of the driving cycle by following an optimal State of Charge (SOC) profile. Finding this optimal profile is a challenging optimization problem and requires prior knowledge of the entire driving cycle. There are many different optimization methods that can be applied to the energy management of PHEVs and they are usually classified into two main categories according to the optimality of their solutions. In general, in order to obtain the global optimum, the complete knowledge of future driving conditions is needed. This requirement renders unfeasible the on-line implementation of such strategies. On the other hand, simpler algorithms which are on-board implementable, do not provide the optimal solution. In this paper, a global optimal strategy — Dynamic Programming, is considered as a benchmark for evaluating the performance of an onboard implementable strategy — Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy with linearly decreasing reference SOC’. The study is conducted on an energy-based model of a parallel hybrid powertrain developed in Matlab/Simulink environment. The model and each powertrain components are validated based on road tests and laboratory data for a Chevrolet Equinox (hybridized at The Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research). The optimality assessment considers two main metrics, namely fuel economy and deviations from the optimal SOC profile. Simulations are carried out by considering different driving scenarios and battery sizes. Results show that for longer distances and bigger batteries, Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy and Dynamic Programming provide similar fuel economy and SOC profiles.


2007 ◽  
Vol 26-28 ◽  
pp. 793-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kang Seok Lee ◽  
Jin Kyu Song

Most structural optimization methods are based on mathematical algorithms that require substantial gradient information. The selection of the starting values is also important to ensure that the algorithm converges to the global optimum. This paper describes a new structural configuration optimization method based on the harmony search (HS) meta-heuristic algorithm. The HS algorithm does not require initial values and uses a random search instead of a gradient search, so derivative information is unnecessary. A benchmark truss example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed approach compared to other optimization methods. Results reveal that the proposed approach is capable of solving configuration optimization problems, and may yield better solutions than those obtained using earlier methods.


2014 ◽  
Vol 980 ◽  
pp. 198-202
Author(s):  
Pavel Raska ◽  
Ulrych Zdenek

The paper deals with testing optimization methods and their setting of the parameters used to search for the global optimum of specified objective functions. The objective functions were specified considering the objectives of the discrete event simulation models. We specified the evaluation methods considering the success of finding the global optimum (or the best found objective function value) the in defined search space. We tested Random Search, Hill Climbing, Tabu Search, Local Search, Downhill Simplex, Simulated Annealing, Differential Evolution and Evolution Strategy. After the testing we proposed some slight modifications of the Downhill Simplex and Differential Evolution optimization methods.


Algorithms ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Cutello ◽  
Georgia Fargetta ◽  
Mario Pavone ◽  
Rocco A. Scollo

Community detection is one of the most challenging and interesting problems in many research areas. Being able to detect highly linked communities in a network can lead to many benefits, such as understanding relationships between entities or interactions between biological genes, for instance. Two different immunological algorithms have been designed for this problem, called Opt-IA and Hybrid-IA, respectively. The main difference between the two algorithms is the search strategy and related immunological operators developed: the first carries out a random search together with purely stochastic operators; the last one is instead based on a deterministic Local Search that tries to refine and improve the current solutions discovered. The robustness of Opt-IA and Hybrid-IA has been assessed on several real social networks. These same networks have also been considered for comparing both algorithms with other seven different metaheuristics and the well-known greedy optimization Louvain algorithm. The experimental analysis conducted proves that Opt-IA and Hybrid-IA are reliable optimization methods for community detection, outperforming all compared algorithms.


Author(s):  
Marcus Pettersson ◽  
Johan O¨lvander

Box’s Complex method for direct search has shown promise when applied to simulation based optimization. In direct search methods, like Box’s Complex method, the search starts with a set of points, where each point is a solution to the optimization problem. In the Complex method the number of points must be at least one plus the number of variables. However, in order to avoid premature termination and increase the likelihood of finding the global optimum more points are often used at the expense of the required number of evaluations. The idea in this paper is to gradually remove points during the optimization in order to achieve an adaptive Complex method for more efficient design optimization. The proposed method shows encouraging results when compared to the Complex method with fix number of points and a quasi-Newton method.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 98-116
Author(s):  
Noureddine Boukhari ◽  
Fatima Debbat ◽  
Nicolas Monmarché ◽  
Mohamed Slimane

Evolution strategies (ES) are a family of strong stochastic methods for global optimization and have proved their capability in avoiding local optima more than other optimization methods. Many researchers have investigated different versions of the original evolution strategy with good results in a variety of optimization problems. However, the convergence rate of the algorithm to the global optimum stays asymptotic. In order to accelerate the convergence rate, a hybrid approach is proposed using the nonlinear simplex method (Nelder-Mead) and an adaptive scheme to control the local search application, and the authors demonstrate that such combination yields significantly better convergence. The new proposed method has been tested on 15 complex benchmark functions and applied to the bi-objective portfolio optimization problem and compared with other state-of-the-art techniques. Experimental results show that the performance is improved by this hybridization in terms of solution eminence and strong convergence.


2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 234-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Y. Blouin ◽  
Michael M. Bernitsas ◽  
Denby Morrison

In structural redesign (inverse design), selection of the number and type of performance constraints is a major challenge. This issue is directly related to the computational effort and, most importantly, to the success of the optimization solver in finding a solution. These issues are the focus of this paper, which provides and discusses techniques that can help designers formulate a well-posed integrated complex redesign problem. LargE Admissible Perturbations (LEAP) is a general methodology, which solves redesign problems of complex structures with, among others, free vibration, static deformation, and forced response amplitude constraints. The existing algorithm, referred to as the Incremental Method is improved in this paper for problems with static and forced response amplitude constraints. This new algorithm, referred to as the Direct Method, offers comparable level of accuracy for less computational time and provides robustness in solving large-scale redesign problems in the presence of damping, nonstructural mass, and fluid-structure interaction effects. Common redesign problems include several natural frequency constraints and forced response amplitude constraints at various frequencies of excitation. Several locations on the structure and degrees of freedom can be constrained simultaneously. The designer must exercise judgment and physical intuition to limit the number of constraints and consequently the computational time. Strategies and guidelines are discussed. Such techniques are presented and applied to a 2,694 degree of freedom offshore tower.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Maxwell ◽  
Shane G. Henderson ◽  
Huseyin Topaloglu

Author(s):  
Dekun Pei ◽  
Michael J. Leamy

This paper presents a direct mathematical approach for determining the state of charge (SOC)-dependent equivalent cost factor in hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV) supervisory control problems using globally optimal dynamic programming (DP). It therefore provides a rational basis for designing equivalent cost minimization strategies (ECMS) which achieve near optimal fuel economy (FE). The suggested approach makes use of the Pareto optimality criterion that exists in both ECMS and DP, and as such predicts the optimal equivalence factor for a drive cycle using DP marginal cost. The equivalence factor is then further modified with corrections based on battery SOC, with the aim of making the equivalence factor robust to drive cycle variations. Adaptive logic is also implemented to ensure battery charge sustaining operation at the desired SOC. Simulations performed on parallel and power-split HEV architectures demonstrate the cross-platform applicability of the DP-informed ECMS approach. Fuel economy data resulting from the simulations demonstrate that the robust controller consistently achieves FE within 1% of the global optimum prescribed by DP. Additionally, even when the equivalence factor deviates substantially from the optimal value for a drive cycle, the robust controller can still produce FE within 1–2% of the global optimum. This compares favorably with a traditional ECMS controller based on a constant equivalence factor, which can produce FE 20–30% less than the global optimum under the same conditions. As such, the controller approach detailed should result in ECMS supervisory controllers that can achieve near optimal FE performance, even if component parameters vary from assumed values (e.g., due to manufacturing variation, environmental effects or aging), or actual driving conditions deviate largely from standard drive cycles.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document