A novel multi-strategy ameliorated quasi-oppositional chaotic tunicate swarm algorithm for global optimization and constrained engineering applications

Over the last few decades, a number of prominent meta-heuristic algorithms have been put forth to address complex optimization problems. However, there is a critical need to enhance these existing meta-heuristics by employing a variety of evolutionary techniques to tackle the emerging challenges in engineering applications. As a result, this study attempts to boost the efficiency of the recently introduced bio-inspired algorithm, the Tunicate Swarm Algorithm (TSA), which is motivated by the foraging and swarming behaviour of bioluminescent tunicates residing in the deep sea. Like other algorithms, the TSA has certain limitations, including getting trapped in the local optimal values and a lack of exploration ability, resulting in premature convergence when dealing with highly challenging optimization problems. To overcome these shortcomings, a novel multi-strategy ameliorated TSA, termed the Quasi-Oppositional Chaotic TSA (QOCTSA), has been proposed as an enhanced variant of TSA. This enhanced method contributes the simultaneous incorporation of the Quasi-Oppositional Based Learning (QOBL) and Chaotic Local Search (CLS) mechanisms to effectively balance exploration and exploitation. The implementation of QOBL improves convergence accuracy and exploration rate, while the inclusion of a CLS strategy with ten chaotic maps improves exploitation by enhancing local search ability around the most prospective regions. Thus, the QOCTSA significantly enhances convergence accuracy while maintaining TSA diversification. The experimentations are conducted on a set of thirty-three diverse functions: CEC2005 and CEC2019 test functions, as well as several real-world engineering problems. The statistical and graphical outcomes indicate that QOCTSA is superior to TSA and exhibits a faster rate of convergence. Furthermore, the statistical tests, specifically the Wilcoxon rank-sum test and t-test, reveal that the QOCTSA method outperforms the other competing algorithms in the domain of real-world engineering design problems.