Siamak Talatahari - Department of Civil Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran ۲ Engineering Faculty, Near East University, ۹۹۱۳۸ Nicosia, North Cyprus, ۱۰ Mersin, Turkey
Vahid Goodarzimehr - Department of Civil Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

In this study, to enhance the optimization process, especially in the structural engineering field two well-known algorithms are merged together in order to achieve an improved hybrid algorithm. These two algorithms are Teaching-Learning Based Optimization (TLBO) and Harmony Search (HS) which have been used by most researchers in varied fields of science. The hybridized algorithm is called A Discrete Hybrid Teaching-Learning Based Optimization (DHTLBO) that is applied to optimization of truss structures with discrete variables. This new method is consisted of two parts: in the first part the TLBO algorithm applied as conventional TLBO for local optimization, in the second stage the HS algorithm is applied to global optimization and exploring all the unknown places in the search space. The new hybrid algorithm is employed to minimize the total weight of structures. Therefore, the objective function consists of member’s weight, which is depends on the form of stress and deflection limits. To demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of this new algorithm several truss structures which are optimized by most researchers are presented and then their results are compared to other meta-heuristic algorithm and TLBO and HS standard algorithms.

Discrete variables, Teaching-learning-based optimization, Harmony search, Size optimization, Truss structures, Structural optimization, Meta-heuristic algorithm