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Exact solution of time–cost trade-off problem (TCTP) by the state-of-the-art meta-heuristic algorithms can be obtained for small- and medium-scale problems, while satisfactory results cannot be obtained for large construction projects. In this study, a hybrid heuristic meta-heuristic algorithm that adapts the search domain is developed to solve the large-scale discrete TCTP more efficiently.

Minimum cost slope–based heuristic network analysis algorithm (NAA), which eliminates the unfeasible search domain, is embedded into differential evolution meta-heuristic algorithm. Heuristic NAA narrows the search domain at the initial phase of the optimization. Moreover, activities with float durations higher than the predetermined threshold value are eliminated and then the meta-heuristic algorithm starts and searches the global optimum through the narrowed search space. However, narrowing the search space may increase the probability of obtaining a local optimum. Therefore, adaptive search domain approach is employed to make reintroduction of the eliminated activities to the design variable set possible, which reduces the possibility of converging into local minima.

The developed algorithm is compared with plain meta-heuristic algorithm with two separate analyses. In the first analysis, both algorithms have the same computational demand, and in the latter analysis, the meta-heuristic algorithm has fivefold computational demand. The tests on case study problems reveal that the developed algorithm presents lower total project costs according to the dependent t-test for paired samples with α = 0.0005.

In this study, TCTP is solved without considering quality or restrictions on the resources.

The proposed method enables to adapt the number of parameters, that is, the search domain and provides the opportunity of obtaining significant improvements on the meta-heuristic algorithms for other engineering optimization problems, which is the theoretical contribution of this study. The proposed approach reduces the total construction cost of the large-scale projects, which can be the practical benefit of this study.

In this study, to maximize returns and minimize investment risk, an attempt was made to form an optimal portfolio under conditions where the capital market has a price bubble. According to the purpose, the research was of the applied type, in terms of data, quantitative and postevent, and in terms of the type of analysis, it was of the descriptive-correlation type. Sequence, skewness and kurtosis tests were used to identify the months with bubbles from 2015 to 2021 in the Tehran Stock Exchange. After identifying the bubble courses, artificial bee colony meta-heuristic and invasive weed algorithms were used to optimize the portfolio. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.

The existence of bubbles in the market, especially in the capital market, can prevent the participation of investors in the capital market process and the correct allocation of financial resources for the economic development of the country. However, due to the goal of investors to achieve a portfolio of high returns with the least amount of risk, there is need to pay attention to these markets increases.

The results identify 14 periods of price bubbles during the study period. Additionally, stock portfolios with maximum returns and minimum risk were selected for portfolio optimization. According to the results of using meta-heuristic algorithms to optimize the portfolio, in relation to the obtained returns and risk, no significant difference was observed between the returns and risk of periods with price bubbles in each of the two meta-heuristic algorithms. This study can guide investors in identifying bubble courses and forming an optimal portfolio under these conditions.

One of the limitations of this research is the non-generalizability of the findings to stock exchanges of other countries and other time periods due to the condition of the price bubble, as well as other companies in the stock market due to the restrictions considered for selecting the statistical sample.

This study intends to form an optimal stock portfolio in a situation where the capital market suffers from a price bubble. This study provides an effective and practical solution for investors in the field of stock portfolio optimization.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the effectiveness of two meta‐heuristics in solving the problem of scheduling maintenance operations and jobs processing on a single machine.

The two meta‐heuristic algorithms, tabu search and simulated annealing are hybridized using the properties of an optimal schedule identified in the existing literature to the problem. A lower bound is also suggested utilizing these properties.

In a numerical experimentation with large size problems, the best‐known heuristic algorithm to the problem is compared with the tabu search and simulated annealing algorithms. The study shows that the meta‐heuristic algorithms outperform the heuristic algorithm. In addition, the developed meta‐heuristics tend to be more robust against the problem‐related parameters than the existing algorithm.

A future work may consider the possibility of machine failure along with the preventive maintenance. This relaxes the assumption that the machine cannot fail but it is rather maintained preventively. The multi‐criteria scheduling can also be considered as an avenue of future work. The problem can also be considered with stochastic parameters such that the processing times of the jobs and the maintenance related parameters are random and follow a known probability distribution function.

The usefulness of meta‐heuristic algorithms is demonstrated for solving a large scale NP‐hard combinatorial optimization problem. The paper also shows that the utilization of the directed search methods such as hybridization could substantially improve the performance of a meta‐heuristic.

This research highlights the impact of utilizing the directed search methods to cause hybridization in meta‐heuristic and the resulting improvement in their performance for large‐scale optimization.

As far as the authors know, no research has already been carried out on the multi-floor dynamic facility layout problem (MF-DFLP) in the continuous form regarding the flexible bay structure, the number and the variable location of the elevator. Therefore, the present paper models the given problem and attempts to find a sub-optimal solution for it using a meta-heuristic simulated annealing (SA) algorithm.

The efficient use of resources has always been a prominent matter for decision-makers. Many reasons including land use, construction considerations and proximity of departments have led to the design of multi-floor facilities. On the other hand, their fast-evolving environment calls for dynamic planning. Therefore, in this paper, a model and the SA algorithm for MF-DFLP are presented.

After presenting a mathematical model, the problem was solved precisely in a small size using the GAMS software. Also, a near-optimal solution method using a SA meta-heuristic algorithm is suggested and the proposed algorithm was run in the MATLAB software. To evaluate the presented model and the proposed solution, some test cases were considered in two aspects. The first aspect was the test cases that are newly generated in small, medium and large sizes to compare the exact optimal solution with the results of the meta-heuristic algorithm. Eight test cases with small sizes were solved using the GAMS software, the optimum solutions were obtained in a reasonable time, and the cost of their solutions was equal to that of the SA algorithm. Eight test cases with medium sizes were run in the GAMS software with the time limit of 80,000 s, and the SA algorithm had performed better for these test cases. Two test cases were also considered in large size that GAMS could not solve them, whereas the SA algorithm successfully found a proper solution for each. The second aspect included the test cases from the literature. The result showed that suggested algorithm is more capable of finding best solutions than compared algorithms.

In this paper, an unequal area MF-DFLP was studied in a continuous layout form in which the location and number of the elevators were considered to be variable, and the layouts were considered with flexible bay structure. These conditions were investigated for the first time.

This paper aims to present a new multi-community meta-heuristic optimization algorithm, which is called shuffled shepherd optimization algorithm (SSOA). In this algorithm.

The agents are first separated into multi-communities and the optimization process is then performed mimicking the behavior of a shepherd in nature operating on each community.

A new multi-community meta-heuristic optimization algorithm called a shuffled shepherd optimization algorithm is developed in this paper and applied to some attractive examples.

A new metaheuristic is presented and tested with some classic benchmark problems and some attractive structures are optimized.

The purpose of this study is to provide the reader with a full study of the bat algorithm, including its limitations, the fields that the algorithm has been applied, versatile optimization problems in different domains and all the studies that assess its performance against other meta-heuristic algorithms.

Bat algorithm is given in-depth in terms of backgrounds, characteristics, limitations, it has also displayed the algorithms that hybridized with BA (K-Medoids, back-propagation neural network, harmony search algorithm, differential evaluation strategies, enhanced particle swarm optimization and Cuckoo search algorithm) and their theoretical results, as well as to the modifications that have been performed of the algorithm (modified bat algorithm, enhanced bat algorithm, bat algorithm with mutation (BAM), uninhabited combat aerial vehicle-BAM and non-linear optimization). It also provides a summary review that focuses on improved and new bat algorithm (directed artificial bat algorithm, complex-valued bat algorithm, principal component analyzes-BA, multiple strategies coupling bat algorithm and directional bat algorithm).

Shed light on the advantages and disadvantages of this algorithm through all the research studies that dealt with the algorithm in addition to the fields and applications it has addressed in the hope that it will help scientists understand and develop it.

As far as the research community knowledge, there is no comprehensive survey study conducted on this algorithm covering all its aspects.

Optimum utilization of investments has always been considered one of the most crucial aspects of capital markets. Investment into various securities is the subject of portfolio optimization intent to maximize return at minimum risk. In this series, a population-based evolutionary approach, stochastic fractal search (SFS), is derived from the natural growth phenomenon. This study aims to develop portfolio selection model using SFS approach to construct an efficient portfolio by optimizing the Sharpe ratio with risk budgeting constraints.

This paper proposes a constrained portfolio optimization model using the SFS approach with risk-budgeting constraints. SFS is an evolutionary method inspired by the natural growth process which has been modeled using the fractal theory. Experimental analysis has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of the proposed model by making comparisons with state-of-the-art from domain such as genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, simulated annealing and differential evolution. The real datasets of the Indian stock exchanges and datasets of global stock exchanges such as Nikkei 225, DAX 100, FTSE 100, Hang Seng31 and S&P 100 have been taken in the study.

The study confirms the better performance of the SFS model among its peers. Also, statistical analysis has been done using SPSS 20 to confirm the hypothesis developed in the experimental analysis.

In the recent past, researchers have already proposed a significant number of models to solve portfolio selection problems using the meta-heuristic approach. However, this is the first attempt to apply the SFS optimization approach to the problem.

A Nash bargaining game data envelopment analysis (NBG-DEA) model is proposed to measure the efficiency of dynamic multi-period network structures. This paper aims to propose NBG-DEA model to measure the performance of decision-making units with complicated network structures.

As the proposed NBG-DEA model is a non-linear mathematical programming, finding its global optimum solution is hard. Therefore, meta-heuristic algorithms are used to solve non-linear optimization problems. Fortunately, the NBG-DEA model optimizes the well-formed problem, so that it can be solved by different non-linear methods including meta-heuristic algorithms. Hence, a meta-heuristic algorithm, called particle swarm optimization (PSO) is proposed to solve the NBG-DEA model in this paper. The case study is Industrial Management Institute (IMI), which is a leading organization in providing consulting management, publication and educational services in Iran. The sub-processes of IMI are considered as players where their pay-off is defined as the efficiency of sub-processes. The network structure of IMI is studied during multiple periods.

The proposed NBG-DEA model is applied to measure the efficiency scores in the IMI case study. The solution found by the PSO algorithm, which is implemented in MATLAB software, is compared with that generated by a classic non-linear method called gradient descent implemented in LINGO software.

The experiments proved that suitable and feasible solutions could be found by solving the NBG-DEA model and shows that PSO algorithm solves this model in reasonable central process unit time.

This paper aims to present a new hybrid algorithm of Particle Swarm Optimization and the Genetic Algorithm (PSOGA) to optimize the space trusses with continuous design variables. The PSOGA is an efficient hybridized algorithm to solve optimization problems.

These algorithms have shown outstanding performance in solving optimization problems with continuous variables. The PSO conceptually models the social behavior of birds, in which individual birds exchange information about their position, velocity and fitness. The behavior of a flock is influencing the probability of migration to other regions with high fitness. The GAs procedure is based on the mechanism of natural selection. The present study uses mutation, random selection and reproduction to reach the best genetic algorithm by the operators of natural genetics. Thus, only identical chromosomes or particles can be converged.

In this research, using the idea of hybridization PSO and GA algorithms are hybridized and a new meta-heuristic algorithm is developed to minimize the space trusses with continuous design variables. To showing the efficiency and robustness of the new algorithm, several benchmark problems are solved and compared with other researchers.

The results indicate that the hybrid PSO algorithm improved in both exploration and exploitation. The PSO algorithm can be used to minimize the weight of structural problems under stress and displacement constraints.

The fishing cat's unique hunting strategies, including ambush, detection, diving and trapping, inspired the development of a novel metaheuristic optimization algorithm named the Fishing Cat Optimizer (FCO). The purpose of this paper is to introduce FCO, offering a fresh perspective on metaheuristic optimization and demonstrating its potential for solving complex problems.

The FCO algorithm structures the optimization process into four distinct phases. Each phase incorporates a tailored search strategy to enrich the diversity of the search population and attain an optimal balance between extensive global exploration and focused local exploitation.

To assess the efficacy of the FCO algorithm, we conducted a comparative analysis with state-of-the-art algorithms, including COA, WOA, HHO, SMA, DO and ARO, using a test suite comprising 75 benchmark functions. The findings indicate that the FCO algorithm achieved optimal results on 88% of the test functions, whereas the SMA algorithm, which ranked second, excelled on only 21% of the functions. Furthermore, FCO secured an average ranking of 1.2 across the four benchmark sets of CEC2005, CEC2017, CEC2019 and CEC2022, demonstrating its superior convergence capability and robustness compared to other comparable algorithms.

Although the FCO algorithm performs excellently in solving single-objective optimization problems and constrained optimization problems, it also has some shortcomings and defects. First, the structure of the FCO algorithm is relatively complex and there are many parameters. The value of parameters has a certain impact on solving optimization problems. Second, the computational complexity of the FCO algorithm is relatively high. When solving high-dimensional optimization problems, it takes more time than algorithms such as GWO and WOA. Third, although the FCO algorithm performs excellently in solving multimodal functions, it rarely obtains the theoretical optimal solution when solving combinatorial optimization problems.

The FCO algorithm is applied to the solution process of five common engineering design optimization problems.

This paper innovatively proposes the FCO algorithm, which mimics the unique hunting mechanisms of fishing cats, including strategies such as lurking, perceiving, rapid diving and precise trapping. These mechanisms are abstracted into four closely connected iterative stages, corresponding to extensive and in-depth exploration, multi-dimensional fine detection, rapid and precise developmental search and localized refinement and contraction search. This enables efficient global optimization and local fine-tuning in complex environments, significantly enhancing the algorithm's adaptability and search efficiency.