VND-based Local Search Operator for Equality Constraint Problems in PSO Algorithm

This paper presents a hybrid PSO algorithm with a VND-based operator for handling equality constraint problems in continuous optimization. The VND operator can be defined both as a local search and a kind of elitism operator for equality constraint problems playing the role of “fixing” the best estimates of the feasible set. Experiments performed on benchmark problems suggest that the VND operator can enhance both the convergence speed and the accuracy of the final result.