Walrus Optimization Algorithm: A New Bio-Inspired

Metaheuristic Algorithm
Pavel Trojovský (  pavel.trojovsky@uhk.cz )
University of Hradec Králové
Mohammad Dehghani
University of Hradec Králové

Article

Keywords: Walrus, optimization, optimization algorithm, bio-inspired, metaheuristic, exploration,

exploitation

Posted Date: October 24th, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2174098/v1

License:   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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Walrus Optimization Algorithm: A New Bio-Inspired
Metaheuristic Algorithm

Pavel Trojovský1* and Mohammad Dehghani1

1
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, University of Hradec Králové,
500 03 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

*Corresponding Author:
Pavel Trojovský1
Rokitanského 62, Hradec Králové, 500 03, Czech Republic
Email address: pavel.trojovsky@uhk.cz

Abstract
In this paper, a new bio-Inspired metaheuristic algorithm called Walrus Optimization Algorithm
(WaOA) mimics walrus behaviors in nature. The fundamental inspirations employed in WaOA
design are the process of feeding, migrating, escaping, and fighting predators. The WaOA
implementation steps are mathematically modeled in three different phases exploration,
migration, and exploitation. Sixty-eight standard benchmark functions have been employed to
evaluate WaOA performance in optimization applications. The ability of WaOA to provide
solutions to optimization problems has been compared with the results of ten well-known
metaheuristic algorithms. The simulation results show that WaOA, with its high capability in
balancing exploration and exploitation, offers superior performance and is far more competitive
than the ten compared algorithms. In addition, the use of WaOA in addressing four design
engineering issues demonstrates the apparent effectiveness of WaOA in real-world applications.

Keywords: Walrus, optimization, optimization algorithm, bio-inspired, metaheuristic,

exploration, exploitation.

Introduction
Any problem that has more than one feasible solution is known as an optimization problem.
According to this definition, the process of determining the best solution among all feasible
solutions is called optimization. From a mathematical point of view, decision variables,
constraints, and objective functions are the three main parts of modeling an optimization
problem. The purpose of optimization is to quantify the decision variables of the problem so that
while respecting the constraints, it leads to achieving the minimum (minimization problems) or
maximum (maximization problems) value for the objective function1. Applied techniques in
solving optimization problems fall into the deterministic and stochastic approaches.
Deterministic approaches, which are classified into gradient-based and non-gradient-based, have
successful performance in solving linear and convex optimization problems. However, many
real-world and science optimization problems are described by nonlinear, complex, non-
differentiable objective functions, discrete search space, non-convex nature, many decision
variables, multiple equal and unequal constraints, and so on. These features make it impossible
for deterministic methods to address these types of optimization challenges to fail2. This failure
of deterministic methods has led to the extensive efforts of researchers and the introduction of
stochastic approaches to address optimization issues. As one of the most widely used stochastic
approaches, metaheuristic algorithms, using stochastic operators, trial and error concepts, and
stochastic search, can provide appropriate solutions to optimization problems without requiring
derivative information from the objective function. The simplicity of ideas, easy implementation,
independence from the type of problem, and no need for a derivation process, are among the
advantages that have led to the popularity and pervasiveness of metaheuristic algorithms among
researchers 3. The optimization process in metaheuristic algorithms begins with the random
generation of several initial feasible solutions in the problem search space. Then, in an iterative-
based process, based on the effectiveness of the algorithm steps, these initial solutions are
improved. Finally, the best solution found during the implementation of the algorithm is
introduced as the solution to the problem4. However, none of the metaheuristic algorithms
guarantee that they will be able to provide the optimal global solution. This insufficiency is due
to the nature of random search in these types of optimization approaches. Hence, the solutions
derived from metaheuristic algorithms are known as quasi-optimal solutions5.
Exploration and exploitation capabilities enable metaheuristic algorithms to provide better quasi-
optimal solutions. Exploration refers to the ability to search globally in different areas of the
problem-solving space to discover the best optimal area. In contrast, exploitation refers to the
ability to search locally around the available solutions and the promising areas to converge to the
global optimal. Balancing exploration and exploitation is the key to the success of metaheuristic
algorithms in achieving effective solutions6. Achieving better quasi-optimal solutions has been
the main challenge and reason for researchers' development of various metaheuristic algorithms.
The main research question is that despite the numerous metaheuristic algorithms introduced so
far, is there still a need to develop new algorithms? The No Free Lunch (NFL) theorem7 answers
the question that the optimal performance of an algorithm in solving a set of optimization
problems gives no guarantee for the similar performance of that algorithm in solving other
optimization problems. The NFL theorem concept rejects the hypothesis that a particular
metaheuristic algorithm is the best optimizer for all optimization applications over all different
algorithms. Instead, the NFL theorem encourages researchers to continue to design newer
metaheuristic algorithms to solve optimization problems more effectively. This theorem has also
motivated the authors of this paper to develop a new metaheuristic algorithm to address
optimization challenges.
This paper’s novelty and contribution are in designing a new metaheuristic algorithm called the
Walrus Optimization Algorithm (WaOA), which is based on the simulation of walrus behaviors
in nature. The WaOA’s main inspiration is the natural behaviors of walruses in feeding, when
fleeing and fighting predators, and migrating. WaOA is mathematically modeled in three phases:
exploration, exploitation, and migration. The efficiency of WaOA in handling optimization
problems is tested on sixty-eight standard objective functions of various types of unimodal,
multimodal, CEC 2015 test suite, and CEC 2017 test suite. In addition, the success of WaOA in
real-world applications is challenged in addressing four engineering design issues.
The rest of the paper is as follows; the lecture review is presented in the “Lecture Review’’
section. The proposed WaOA approach is introduced and modeled in the “Walrus Optimization
Algorithm’’ section. Simulation studies are presented in the “Simulation Studies and Results’’
section. The efficiency of WaOA in solving engineering design problems is evaluated in the
“WaOA for real world-application’’ section. Conclusions and future research directions are
included in the “Conclusions and future works’’ section.

Lecture Review
Metaheuristic algorithms are based on the inspiration and simulation of various natural
phenomena, animal strategies and behaviors, concepts of biological sciences, genetics, physics
sciences, human activities, rules of games, and any evolution-based process. Accordingly, from
the point of view of the main inspiration used in the design, metaheuristic algorithms fall into
five groups: evolutionary-based, swarm-based, physics-based, human-based, and game-based.
Evolutionary-based metaheuristic algorithms have been developed using the concepts of biology,
natural selection theory, and random operators such as selection, crossover, and mutation.
Genetic Algorithm (GA) is one of the most famous metaheuristic algorithms, which is inspired
by the process of reproduction, Darwin's theory of evolution, natural selection, and biological
concepts8. Differential Evolution (DE) is another evolutionary computation that, in addition to
using the concepts of biology, random operators, and natural selection, uses a differential
operator to generate new solutions9.
Swarm-based metaheuristic algorithms have been developed based on modeling natural
phenomena, swarming phenomena, and behaviors of animals, birds, insects, and other living
things. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is one of the first introduced metaheuristics methods
and was widely used in optimization fields. The main inspiration in designing PSO is the search
behaviors of birds and fish to discover food sources10. Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is a
swarm-based method inspired by the ability and strategy of an ant colony to identify the shortest
path between the colony to food sources11. Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) is a metaheuristic
algorithm inspired by grey wolves' hierarchical structure and social behavior while hunting12.
Marine Predator Algorithm (MPA) has been developed inspired by the ocean and sea predator
strategies and their Levy flight movements to trap prey13. The strategy of the tunicates and their
search mechanism in the process of finding food sources and foraging have been the main
inspirations in the design of the Tunicate Swarm Algorithm (TSA)14. Some other swarm-based
methods are White Shark Optimizer (WSO)15, Reptile Search Algorithm (RSA)16, Raccoon
Optimization Algorithm (ROA)17, African Vultures Optimization Algorithm (AVOA)18, and
Pelican Optimization Algorithm (POA)19.
Physics-based metaheuristic algorithms have been inspired by physics’s theories, concepts, laws,
forces, and phenomena. Simulated Annealing (SA) is one of the most famous physics-based
methods, the main inspiration of which is the process of annealing metals. During this physical
process, a solid is placed in a heat bath, and the temperature is continuously raised until the solid
melts. The solid particles are physically separated or randomly placed. From such a high energy
level, the thermal bath cools slowly as the temperature decreases so that the particles can align
themselves in a regular crystal lattice structure20. Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA) is a
physics-based computational method inspired by the simulation of Newton’s law of universal
gravitation and Newton's laws of motion among masses housed in a system21. Applying the three
concepts of a black hole, white hole, and wormhole in cosmology science has been the
inspiration for the design of the Multi-Verse Optimizer (MVO)22. Some other physics-based
methods are: Water Cycle Algorithm (WCA)23, Spring Search Algorithm (SSA)24, Atom Search
Optimization (ASO)25, Momentum Search Algorithm (MSA)26, and Nuclear Reaction
Optimization (NRO)27.
Human-based metaheuristic algorithms have been developed inspired by human activities, social
relationships, and interactions. Teaching Learning Based Optimization (TLBO) is the most
widely used human-based metaheuristic algorithm in which the interactions between teacher and
students, as well as students with each other in the educational space, are its main source of
inspiration28. The efforts of two sections of society, including the poor and the rich, to improve
their financial situation have been the main idea in the design of Poor and Rich Optimization
(PRO)29. Some other human-based methods are Archery Algorithm (AA)30, Brain Storm
Optimization (BSO)31, Chef Based Optimization Algorithm (CBOA)32, War Strategy
Optimization (WSO)33, and Teamwork Optimization Algorithm (TOA)34.
Game-based metaheuristic algorithms have been introduced based on simulating the rules
governing various individual and group games and imitating the behaviors of players, referees,
coaches, and other effective interactions. E.g., competition of players in the tug-of-war game
under the rules of this game has been the main idea used in designing the Tug-of-War
Optimization (TWO) algorithm35. Premier Volleyball League (PVL) algorithm is introduced
based on mathematical modeling of player interactions, competitions, and coaching instructions
during game36. Puzzle Optimization Algorithm (POA) is another game-based metaheuristic
algorithm that has been produced based on players trying to solve puzzles and getting help from
each other to arrange puzzle pieces better37. Some other game-based methods are Orientation
Search Algorithm (OSA) 38, Ring Toss Game-Based Optimization (RTGBO) 39, Football Game
Based Optimization (FGBO) 40, Dice Game Optimization (DGO) 41, and Orientation Search
Algorithm (OSA) 38.
Based on the best knowledge gained from the literature review, no metaheuristic algorithm has
been developed based on the simulation of the behaviors and strategies of walruses. However,
intelligent walrus behaviors such as food search, migration, escape, and fighting with predators
are prone to designing an optimizer. In the next section, based on the mathematical modeling of
natural walrus behaviors, a new metaheuristic algorithm is developed to handle optimization
applications to address this research gap.
Walrus Optimization Algorithm
In this section, employed fundamental inspiration and the theory of the proposed Walrus
Optimization Algorithm (WaOA) is stated, then its various steps are modeled mathematically.
Inspiration of WaOA
Walrus is a big flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution in the Arctic Ocean
and subarctic waters of the Northern Hemisphere around the North Pole42. Adult walruses are
easily identifiable with their large whiskers and tusks. Walruses are social animals who spend
most of their time on the sea ice, seeking benthic bivalve mollusks to eat. The most prominent
feature of walruses is the long tusks of this animal. These are elongated canines seen in both
male and female species that may weigh up to 5.4 kilograms and measure up to 1 meter in
length. Males' tusks are slightly thicker and longer and are used for dominance, fighting, and
display. The most muscular male with the longest tusks dominates the other group members and
leads them43. An image of walrus is presented in Figure 1. As the weather warms and the ice
melts in late summer, walruses prefer to migrate to outcrops or rocky beaches. These migrations
are very dramatic and involve massive aggregations of walruses44. The walrus has just two
natural predators due to its large size and tusks: the polar bear and the killer whale (orca).
Observations show that the battle between a walrus and a polar bear is very long and exhausting,
and usually, polar bears withdraw from the fight after injuring the walrus. However, walruses
harm polar bears with their tusks during this battle. In the fight against walruses, killer whales
can hunt them successfully, with minimal and even no injuries45.
The social life and natural behaviors of walruses represent an intelligent process. Of these
intelligent behaviors, three are the most obvious:
(i) Guiding individuals to feed under the guidance of a member with the longest tusks.
(ii) Migration of walruses to rocky beaches
(iii) Fight or escape from predators
Mathematical modeling of these behaviors is the primary inspiration for developing the proposed
WaOA approach.

Figure 1. Walrus (taken from Wikimedia).

Algorithm initialization.
WaOA is a population-based metaheuristic algorithm in which the searcher members of this
population are walruses. In WaOA, each walrus represents a candidate solution to the
optimization problem. Thus, the position of each walrus in the search space determines the
candidate values for the problem variables. Therefore, each walrus is a vector, and the population
of walruses can be mathematically modeled using so-called the population matrix. At the
beginning of WaOA implementation, populations of walruses are randomly initialized. This
WaOA population matrix is determined using (1).
𝑋1 𝑥1,1 ⋯ 𝑥1,𝑗 ⋯ 𝑥1,𝑚
⋮ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⋰ ⋮
𝑋 = 𝑋𝑖 = 𝑥𝑖,1 ⋯ 𝑥𝑖,𝑗 ⋯ 𝑥𝑖,𝑚 , (1)
⋮ ⋮ ⋰ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮
[𝑋𝑁 ]𝑁×𝑚 [𝑥𝑁,1 ⋯ 𝑥𝑁,𝑗 ⋯ 𝑥𝑁,𝑚 ]𝑁×𝑚
where 𝑋 is the walruses’ population, 𝑋𝑖 is the 𝑖th walrus (candidate solution), 𝑥𝑖,𝑗 is the value of
the 𝑗th decision variable suggested by the 𝑖th walrus, 𝑁 is the number of walruses, and 𝑚 is the
number of decision variables.
As mentioned, each walrus is a candidate solution to the problem, and based on its suggested
values for the decision variables, the objective function of the problem can be evaluated. The
estimated values for the objective function obtained from walruses are specified in (2).
𝐹1 𝐹(𝑋1 )
⋮ ⋮
𝐹 = 𝐹𝑖 = 𝐹(𝑋𝑖 ) , (2)
⋮ ⋮
[𝐹𝑁 ]𝑁×1 [𝐹(𝑋𝑁 )]𝑁×1
where 𝐹 is the objective function vector and 𝐹𝑖 is the value of the objective function evaluated
based on the 𝑖th walrus.
Objective function values are the best measure of the quality of candidate solutions. The
candidate solution that results in the evaluation of the best value for the objective function is
known as the best member. On the other hand, the candidate solution that results in the worst
value for the objective function is called the worst member. According to the update of the
values of the objective function in each iteration, the best and worst members are also updated.

Mathematical modelling of WaOA.

The process of updating the position of walruses in the WaOA is modeled in three different
phases based on the natural behaviors of this animal.

Phase 1: Feeding strategy (exploration).

Walruses have a varied diet, feeding on more than sixty species of marine organisms, such as sea
cucumbers, tunicates, soft corals, tube worms, shrimp, and various mollusks46. However, walrus
prefers benthic bivalve mollusks, particularly clams, for which it forages by grazing around the
sea floor, seeking and detecting food with its energetic flipper motions and susceptible
vibrissae47. In this search process, the strongest walrus with the tallest tusks guides the other
walrus in the group to find food. The length of the tusks in the walruses is similar to the quality
of the objective function values of the candidate solutions. Therefore, the best candidate solution
with the best value for the objective function is considered the strongest walrus in the group.
This search behavior of the walruses leads to different scanning areas of the search space, which
improves the exploration power of the WaOA in the global search. The process of updating the
position of walruses is mathematically modeled based on the feeding mechanism under the
guidance of the most vital member of the group, using (3) and (4). In this process, a new position
for walrus is first generated according to (3). This new position replaces the previous position if
it improves the objective function’s value; this concept is modeled in (4).
𝑃
𝑥𝑖,𝑗1 = 𝑥𝑖,𝑗 + 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖,𝑗 ∙ (𝑆𝑊𝑗 − 𝐼𝑖,𝑗 ∙ 𝑥𝑖,𝑗 ), (3)
𝑃 𝑃
𝑋 1, 𝐹𝑖 1
< 𝐹𝑖 ,
𝑋𝑖 = { 𝑖 (4)
𝑋𝑖 , 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒,
𝑃 𝑃
where 𝑋𝑖 1 is the new generated position for the 𝑖th walrus based on the 1st phase, 𝑥𝑖,𝑗1 is its 𝑗th
𝑃
dimension, 𝐹𝑖 1 is its objective function value, 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖,𝑗 are random numbers from the interval
[0, 1], 𝑆𝑊 is the strongest walrus with the best value of the objective function, and 𝐼𝑖,𝑗 are
integers selected randomly between 1 or 2.

Phase 2: Migration
One of the natural behaviors of walruses is their migration to outcrops or rocky beaches due to
the warming of the air in late summer. This migration process is employed in the WaOA to guide
the walruses in the search space to discover suitable areas in the search space. This behavioral
mechanism is mathematically modeled using (5) and (6). This modeling assumes that each
walrus migrates to another walrus (randomly selected) position in another area of the search
space. Therefore, the proposed new position is first generated based on (5). Then according to
(6), if this new position improves the value of the objective function, it replaces the previous
position of walrus.
𝑃 𝑥𝑖,𝑗 + 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖,𝑗 ∙ (𝑥𝑘,𝑗 − 𝐼𝑖,𝑗 ∙ 𝑥𝑖,𝑗 ), 𝐹𝑘 < 𝐹𝑖 ,
𝑥𝑖,𝑗2 = { (5)
𝑥𝑖,𝑗 + 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖,𝑗 ∙ (𝑥𝑖,𝑗 − 𝑥𝑘,𝑗 ), 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒,
𝑃 𝑃
𝑋 2 , 𝐹𝑖 2 < 𝐹𝑖
𝑋𝑖 = { 𝑖 , (6)
𝑋𝑖 , 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒
𝑃 𝑃
where 𝑋𝑖 2 is the new generated position for the 𝑖th walrus based on the 2nd phase, 𝑥𝑖,𝑗2 is its 𝑗th
𝑃
dimension, 𝐹𝑖 2 is its objective function value, 𝑋𝑘 , 𝑘 ∈ {1,2, … , 𝑁} and 𝑘 ≠ 𝑖 is the location of
selected walrus to migrate the 𝑖th walrus towards it, 𝑥𝑘,𝑗 is its 𝑗th dimension, and 𝐹𝑘 is its
objective function value.
Phase 3: Escaping and fighting against predators (exploitation)
Walruses are always exposed to attacks by the polar bear and the killer whale. The strategy of
escaping and fighting these predators leads to a change in the position of the walruses in the
vicinity of the position in which they are located. Simulating this natural behavior of walruses
improves the WaOA exploitation power in the local search in problem-solving space around
candidate solutions. For simulation of this phenomenon in WaOA, a neighborhood is assumed
around each walrus, which first is generated a new position randomly in this neighborhood using
(7) and (8). then if the value of the objective function is improved, this new position replaces the
previous position according to (9).
𝑃 𝑡 𝑡 𝑡
𝑥𝑖,𝑗3 = 𝑥𝑖,𝑗 + (𝑙𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙,𝑗 + (𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙,𝑗 − 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑 ∙ 𝑙𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙,𝑗 )), (7)
𝑡 𝑙𝑏𝑗
𝑙𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙,𝑗 =
𝑡
Local bounds: { 𝑢𝑏𝑗 (8)
𝑡
𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙,𝑗 = 𝑡
𝑃 𝑃
𝑋𝑖 3 , 𝐹𝑖 3 < 𝐹𝑖 ,
𝑋𝑖 = { (9)
𝑋𝑖 , 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒,
𝑃 𝑃
where 𝑋𝑖 3 is the new generated position for the 𝑖th walrus based on the 3rd phase, 𝑥𝑖,𝑗3 is its 𝑗th
𝑃
dimension, 𝐹𝑖 3 is its objective function value, 𝑡 is the iteration contour, 𝑙𝑏𝑗 and 𝑢𝑏𝑗 are the lower
𝑡 𝑡
and upper bounds of the 𝑗th variable, respectively, 𝑙𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙,𝑗 and 𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙,𝑗 are local lower and local
upper bounds allowable for the 𝑗th variable, respectively, to simulate local search in the
neighborhood of the candidate solutions.
Repetition process, pseudocode, and flowchart of WaOA
After updating the walruses' position based on the implementation of the first, second, and third
phases, the first WaOA iteration is completed, and new values are calculated for the position of
the walruses and the objective functions. Update and improve candidate solutions is repeated
based on the WaOA steps according to Eqs. (3) to (9) until the final iteration. Upon completion
of the algorithm execution, WaOA introduces the best candidate solution found during execution
as the solution to the given problem. The WaOA implementation flowchart is presented in Figure
2, and its pseudocode is specified in Algorithm 1.
 Start WaOA.
.

Input all information of optimization problem.

Set parameters of 𝑁 and 𝑇.

Create initial population. Set 𝑖 = 1 and 𝑡 = 1.

Calculate objective function.

Phase 1: Update strongest walrus based on the comparison of the objective function.

𝑃
Phase1: Calculate 𝑋𝑖 1 function using Eq. (3).

Phase 1: Update 𝑋𝑖 using Eq. (4).

Phase 2: Select 𝑋𝐾 randomly as the migration destination for 𝑋𝑖 using Eq. (5).

𝑃
Phase 2: Calculate 𝑋𝑖 2 function using Eq. (5).

Phase 2: Update 𝑋𝑖 using Eq. (6).

𝑃
Phase 3: Calculate 𝑋𝑖 3 function using Eqs. (7) and (8).

Phase 3: Update 𝑋𝑖 using Eq. (9).

Yes
𝑖<𝑁 𝑖 =𝑖+1
No
Save the best candidate solution so far.

Yes 𝑡 =𝑡+1
𝑡< 𝑇
𝑖 = 1
No
Output the best quasi-optimal solution of the objective function found by WaOA.

End WaOA.
.
Figure 2. Flowchart of WaOA.
Algorithm 1. Pseudocode of WaOA
Start WaOA.
1. Input all optimization problem information.
2. Set the number of walruses (𝑁) and the total number of iterations (𝑇).
3. Initialization process of walruses’ locations.
4. For 𝑡 = 1: 𝑇
5. Update strongest walrus based on objective function value criterion.
6. For 𝑖 = 1: 𝑁
7. Phase1: Feeding strategy (exploration)
8. Calculate new location of the 𝑗th walrus using (3).
11. Update the 𝑖th walrus location using (4).
12. Phase 2: Migration
13. Choose an immigration destination for the 𝑖th walrus.
14. Calculate new location of the 𝑗th walrus using (5).
15. Update the 𝑖th walrus location using (6).
16. Phase 3: Escaping and fighting against predators (exploitation)
17. Calculate a new position in the neighborhood of the 𝑖th walrus using (7) and (8)
18. Update the 𝑖th walrus location using (9).
19. end
20. Save the best candidate solution so far.
21. end
22. Output the best quasi-optimal solution obtained by WaOA for given problem.
End WaOA.

Computational complexity of WaOA.

In this subsection, the computational complexity of WaOA is investigated. WaOA initialization,
involving the formation of the population matrix and the calculation of the objective function,
has the complexity equal to 𝑂(𝑁𝑚), where N is the number of walruses and m is the number of
problem variables. The WaOA update process has three different phases, each of which has a
complexity equal to 𝑂(𝑁𝑚𝑇), where T is the number of iterations of the algorithm. Thus, the
total computational complexity of WaOA is equal to 𝑂(𝑁𝑚 (1 + 3𝑇)).
Simulation Studies and Results
In this section, WaOA simulation studies on optimization applications are presented. The
efficiency of WaOA in providing the optimal solution has been tested on sixty-eight standard
objective functions, including unimodal, high-dimensional multimodal, fixed-dimensional
multimodal, CEC 2015 test suite, and CEC 2017 test suite. The information on these test
functions is specified in the Appendix and Tables A1 to A5. WaOA performance is compared
with ten well-known GA, PSO, GSA, TLBO, GWO, MVO, MPA, TSA, RSA, and WSO
algorithms to determine the quality of WaOA results. The values set for the control parameters of
the employed algorithms are specified in Table 1. The WaOA and mentioned competitor
algorithms have been implemented on F1 to F23, each in twenty independent runs containing a
thousand iterations. Optimization results are reported using four statistical indicators: mean, best,
standard deviation, and median. In addition, each algorithm's rank in handling each objective
function is determined based on the average criterion.
 Algorithm Parameter Value
WSO
Fmin and Fmax 0.07, 0.75
τ, ao, a1, a2 4.125, 6.25, 100, 0.0005
RSA
Sensitive parameter 𝛽 = 0.01
Sensitive parameter 𝛼 = 0.1
Evolutionary Sense (ES) ES: randomly decreasing values between 2 and −2
MPA
Constant number 𝑃 = 0.5
Random vector R is a vector of uniform random numbers from [0, 1].
Fish aggregating devices (FADs) FADs = 0.2
Binary vector 𝑈 = 0 or 1
TSA
Pmin and Pmax 1, 4
c1, c2, c3 random numbers lie in the range [0, 1].
MVO
wormhole existence probability (WEP) Min(WEP) = 0.2 and Max(WEP)=1.
Exploitation accuracy over the iterations (p) 𝑝 = 6.
GWO
Convergence parameter (a) a: Linear reduction from 2 to 0.
TLBO
𝑇𝐹 : teaching factor 𝑇𝐹 = round [(1 + 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑)]
random number rand is a random number from [0, 1].
GSA
Alpha, G0, Rnorm, Rpower 20, 100, 2, 1
PSO
Topology Fully connected
Cognitive and social constant (c1, c2) = (2, 2)
Inertia weight Linear reduction from 0.9 to 0.1
Velocity limit 10% of dimension range
GA
Type Real coded
Selection Roulette wheel (Proportionate)
Whole arithmetic (Probability = 0.8,
Crossover
𝛼 ∈ [−0.5, 1.5])
Mutation Gaussian (Probability = 0.05)

Table 1. Parameter values for the competitor algorithms.

Evaluation unimodal objective function.

Unimodal objective functions have been selected to evaluate the WaOA exploitation ability in
local search due to having only one main optimal solution and thus lacking local solutions. The
results of optimizing the F1 to F7 functions using WaOA and competitor algorithms are released
in Table 2. The simulation results show that WaOA has made the optimal global solution
available for the F1, F3, F5, and F6 objective functions. WaOA is also the best optimizer for
optimizing F2, F4, and F7. A comparison of optimization results shows that WaOA has a very
competitive and obvious superiority over the ten compared algorithms.
GA PSO GSA TLBO GWO MVO TSA MPA RSA WSO WaOA
avg 35.636479 0.2070031 1.07E-16 1.65E-74 5.55E-59 0.1484659 2.80E-50 5.38E-48 2.361E-74 139.30155 0
std 15.366825 0.8680742 5.21E-17 4.00E-74 8.50E-59 0.0286353 4.26E-50 9.65E-48 1.056E-73 159.25892 0
F1 bsf 15.574823 9.38E-05 4.92E-17 1.87E-76 2.00E-61 0.0877539 1.20E-52 2.42E-50 6.72E-275 24.516281 0
med 32.554042 0.0035476 9.50E-17 2.54E-75 1.52E-59 0.1522978 1.03E-50 1.43E-48 7.55E-150 63.741662 0
rank 10 9 7 2 4 8 5 6 3 11 1
avg 2.9137603 1.083336 5.42E-08 7.38E-39 9.23E-35 0.2630586 4.05E-28 1.53E-28 1.545E-57 1.378263 1.02E-294
std 0.4876288 0.9126523 9.52E-09 6.86E-39 8.85E-35 0.0465101 5.46E-28 2.55E-28 6.908E-57 0.670443 0
F2 bsf 1.8464391 0.213643 4.10E-08 7.03E-40 1.07E-35 0.1766104 3.46E-30 2.84E-31 6.05E-302 0.5153244 1.93E-301
med 2.8264357 0.7554828 5.44E-08 4.86E-39 6.07E-35 0.2675488 1.61E-28 3.04E-29 1.62E-171 1.1488451 1.04E-296
rank 11 9 7 3 4 8 6 5 2 10 1
avg 2280.3282 810.43051 429.96791 1.92E-25 7.28E-15 14.567466 2.04E-12 8.18E-10 21.200999 1736.8697 0
std 537.7821 1485.5826 143.79514 2.64E-25 2.78E-14 7.4619678 5.45E-12 3.57E-09 94.81375 884.82296 0
F3 bsf 1580.7695 28.031944 134.69855 1.95E-28 4.91E-20 3.8558441 1.41E-21 3.67E-19 1.66E-286 456.77681 0
med 2185.7918 311.51047 404.69921 8.93E-26 8.80E-17 13.32036 1.21E-13 2.62E-14 5.19E-159 1405.5958 0
rank 11 9 8 2 3 6 4 5 7 10 1
avg 3.1939824 6.0450436 1.2460337 2.88E-30 1.16E-14 0.5305654 2.22E-19 0.0128207 6.3E-86 17.636532 2.12E-277
std 0.6363611 2.1930237 1.20872 5.58E-30 1.63E-14 0.2165466 1.90E-19 0.0236447 2.817E-85 3.8176138 0
F4 bsf 2.1069528 2.8440653 1.17E-08 3.06E-31 4.22E-16 0.1732463 1.07E-20 1.28E-05 1.46E-292 10.597995 2.33E-283
med 3.1281948 5.5628555 0.8672083 1.01E-30 4.90E-15 0.5082758 1.74E-19 0.0014648 2.48E-179 17.27578 4.21E-280
rank 9 10 8 3 5 7 4 6 2 11 1
avg 447.41975 9081.0534 26.444544 26.879052 26.647637 210.87972 23.770128 28.627328 11.588225 8219.6542 0
std 128.52693 27683.869 1.2663773 0.9415733 0.6191676 604.31395 0.6101773 0.4200296 14.561344 15186.046 0
F5 bsf 266.32221 25.105404 23.188877 25.707118 26.032245 27.165606 23.003447 27.953193 1.673E-28 804.09074 0
med 446.1339 84.612956 26.332793 26.414859 26.247344 29.66712 23.695067 28.82189 1.935E-26 2420.2388 0
rank 9 11 4 6 5 8 3 7 2 10 1
avg 31.42673 0.0510473 9.32E-17 1.1573232 0.6692467 0.1400393 1.61E-09 3.9030313 6.3563416 78.328797 0
std 10.245634 0.1096987 3.76E-17 0.308507 0.3126824 0.0321654 6.46E-10 0.652961 1.3479915 64.058682 0
F6 bsf 12.842622 0.0001209 4.17E-17 0.5427727 0.2497602 0.0819428 8.09E-10 3.0609791 3.0286991 23.315452 0
ed 31.320071 0.0086778 8.77E-17 1.1353832 0.7321052 0.1430209 1.37E-09 3.8124693 7.0490774 50.668202 0
rank 10 4 2 7 6 5 3 8 9 11 1
avg 0.0092806 0.1547606 0.0469892 0.0018942 0.0008859 0.0115807 0.0006818 0.0037947 7.607E-05 5.67E-05 1.43E-05
std 0.0032501 0.0722997 0.0156823 0.0017094 0.0004986 0.0048849 0.0004792 0.0018803 5.737E-05 5.778E-05 1.15E-05
F7 bsf 0.0033147 0.0767143 0.0226519 0.000295 0.0003704 0.0048829 9.71E-05 0.0011774 1.747E-06 3.918E-07 3.75E-07
med 0.0090163 0.1167272 0.0442485 0.0013531 0.0006481 0.0114417 0.000617 0.0035579 6.982E-05 3.295E-05 1.20E-05
rank 8 11 10 6 5 9 4 7 3 2 1
Sum rank 68 63 46 29 32 51 29 44 28 65 7
Mean
rank 9.714286 9 6.571429 4.142857 4.571429 7.285714 4.142857 6.285714 4 9.285714 1
Total rank 10 8 6 3 4 7 3 5 2 9 1
Table 2. Results of optimization of WaOA and competitor metaheuristics on unimodal functions.

Evaluation high-dimensional multimodal objective functions.

High dimensional multimodal functions with several local and globally optimal solutions have
been selected to evaluate WaOA exploration capability in global search. The optimization results
of F8 to F13 functions using WaOA and competitor algorithms are reported in Table 3. What can
be deduced from the results of this table is that WaOA has converged to the global optimal in
optimizing F9 and F11. WaOA is also the best optimizer for optimizing F10, F12, and F13. TSA
is the best optimizer for the F8 objective function, while WaOA is the second-best optimizer for
this objective function. Analysis of the simulation results shows that WaOA has an acceptable
performance in optimizing high-dimensional multimodal objective functions and has provided a
superior outcome compared to ten competitor algorithms.

GA PSO GSA TLBO GWO MVO TSA MPA RSA WSO WaOA
avg -8732.0566 -6655.931 -2500.7139 -5231.075 -6083.0982 -7816.9559 -9767.2623 -6168.7082 -5406.0627 -7093.1044 -8881.1061
std 599.35054 796.53218 393.55973 587.7787 1045.1408 651.41296 475.49897 492.70948 338.83459 1097.2857 152.94837
F8 bsf -9653.3571 -7989.6611 -3246.4966 -6299.8836 -7654.2152 -9073.2252 -10689.627 -7227.6685 -5655.4772 -9790.4976 -9075.5449
med -8768.4313 -6498.1012 -2466.9839 -5134.4807 -6019.692 -7735.8964 -9758.4183 -6271.1354 -5493.351 -7050.2823 -8917.6187
rank 3 6 11 10 8 4 1 7 9 5 2
avg 57.122334 62.018927 25.868921 0 0.1072815 95.254712 0 166.51009 0 27.043749 0
std 15.547508 14.674411 6.6313076 0 0.4797776 24.107803 0 41.096443 0 6.1049913 0
F9 bsf 34.598517 44.773094 9.9495906 0 0 43.910246 0 91.619574 0 15.188582 0
med 54.083175 56.224581 26.863884 0 0 91.11852 0 171.11072 0 26.372688 0
rank 5 6 3 1 2 7 1 8 1 4 1
avg 3.5854087 3.2364098 8.30E-09 4.09E-15 1.67E-14 0.5370924 3.91E-15 1.7230212 8.882E-16 4.7802266 2.13E-15
std 0.4151563 0.8973082 1.60E-09 1.09E-15 3.15E-15 0.6513908 1.30E-15 1.6183189 0 0.8814042 1.74E-15
F10 bsf 2.856219 1.7750878 5.13E-09 8.88E-16 1.15E-14 0.0918005 8.88E-16 1.51E-14 8.882E-16 2.8691584 8.88E-16
med 3.5140585 3.1264706 8.16E-09 4.44E-15 1.51E-14 0.1269169 4.44E-15 2.7111539 8.882E-16 4.8412315 8.88E-16
rank 10 9 6 4 5 7 3 8 1 11 2
avg 1.5658187 0.0989545 8.7022139 0 0.0032973 0.4116334 0 0.0065336 0 2.0387294 0
std 0.1869219 0.1284744 4.6881208 0 0.0062632 0.1070168 0 0.0063468 0 1.7243749 0
F11 bsf 1.2168372 0.0001701 2.7594413 0 0 0.2741324 0 0 0 1.107167 0
med 1.5528338 0.0628106 8.2290232 0 0 0.3958958 0 0.0088858 0 1.5129228 0
rank 6 4 8 1 2 5 1 3 1 7 1
avg 0.154488 1.5947308 0.3648692 0.0821009 0.0413696 1.460569 1.82E-10 7.0583987 1.3120904 2.8972544 1.57E-32
std 0.1110493 1.3141826 0.5614192 0.0268307 0.0193412 1.458994 9.87E-11 3.6829525 0.3309185 1.2781011 2.81E-48
F12 bsf 0.0487615 0.0004665 3.54E-19 0.0454024 0.0134185 0.0019963 4.63E-11 0.5684754 0.6975687 0.6649101 1.57E-32
med 0.1255449 1.4939335 0.132149 0.0812882 0.0370402 1.0833741 1.53E-10 6.8697136 1.5217562 2.8024353 1.57E-32
rank 5 9 6 4 3 8 2 11 7 10 1
avg 2.2803846 5.1857653 0.2491467 1.0496147 0.5714104 0.0242273 0.0013037 2.8069554 5.442E-22 8081.2485 1.35E-32
std 0.9391074 4.2390635 0.7537801 0.2541193 0.2372261 0.0208494 0.0038377 0.5753073 2.344E-21 23135.549 2.81E-48
F13 bsf 0.9745414 0.2328254 5.86E-18 0.5896332 0.1002619 0.00478 6.66E-10 1.3560246 1.059E-31 13.356494 1.35E-32
med 2.0472332 4.7415948 1.19E-17 1.0475961 0.6576587 0.0175472 3.03E-09 2.8573762 7.794E-31 38.79782 1.35E-32
rank 8 10 5 7 6 4 3 9 2 11 1
Sum rank 37 44 39 27 26 35 11 46 21 48 8
Mean rank 6.16667 7.33333 6.5 4.5 4.33333 5.83333 1.83333 7.66667 3.5 8 1.33333
Total rank 7 9 8 5 4 6 2 10 3 11 1
Table 3. Results of optimization of WaOA and competitor metaheuristics on the high-
dimensional multimodal functions.

Evaluation fixed-dimensional multimodal objective function.

The fixed-dimensional multimodal functions, which have fewer local solutions than functions F8
to F13, have been selected to evaluate WaOA's ability to balance exploration and exploitation.
The optimization results of F14 to F23 functions are reported in Table 4. The results show that
WaOA ranks first as the best optimizer in handling all F14 to F23 functions. Furthermore,
analysis of the simulation results shows the superiority of WaOA over ten compared algorithms
due to the high power of WaOA in balancing exploration and exploitation.
The performances of WaOA and competitor algorithms in solving F1 to F23 functions are
presented as boxplot diagrams in Figure 3.

GA PSO GSA TLBO GWO MVO TSA MPA RSA WSO WaOA
avg 0.9981643 2.5666387 3.5074504 1.2956191 4.5112709 0.9980038 0.9980038 9.8626047 3.4763804 1.0972089 0.9980038
std 0.0004209 3.1924333 2.2232827 0.7268706 4.9191731 5.84E-12 7.20E-17 4.4088461 2.5684321 0.4436585 1.02E-16
F14 bsf 0.9980038 0.9980038 0.9980038 0.9980038 0.9980038 0.9980038 0.9980038 0.9980038 1.0478432 0.9980038 0.9980038
med 0.998005 1.9920309 2.4246779 0.9980039 0.9980038 0.9980038 0.9980038 10.763181 2.9821052 0.9980038 0.9980038
rank 3 6 8 5 9 2 1 10 7 4 1
avg 0.0088845 0.0025359 0.0038451 0.0014762 0.0053342 0.0046946 0.0003075 0.006305 0.001262 0.0013103 0.0003075
std 0.0086194 0.0061158 0.0030393 0.0044582 0.0089026 0.0080421 3.92E-19 0.0138809 0.0005632 0.0044846 9.87E-20
F15 bsf 0.0008345 0.0003075 0.0013735 0.0003122 0.0003075 0.0003268 0.0003075 0.0003076 0.0006652 0.0003075 0.0003075
med 0.0051832 0.0003075 0.002212 0.0003187 0.0003079 0.0007413 0.0003075 0.0004825 0.0011743 0.0003075 0.0003075
rank 11 6 7 5 9 8 2 10 3 4 1
- - - - - - - - - - -
avg
1.0316252 1.0316285 1.0316285 1.0316268 1.0316284 1.0316284 1.0316285 1.0284655 1.0295585 1.0316284 1.0316285
std 9.20E-06 1.61E-16 1.02E-16 1.46E-06 4.11E-09 4.04E-08 2.10E-16 0.0097351 0.0069817 3.273E-08 2.28E-16
- - - - - - - - - - -
F16 bsf
1.0316285 1.0316285 1.0316285 1.0316284 1.0316285 1.0316285 1.0316285 1.0316284 1.0316235 1.0316285 1.0316285
- - - - - - - - - - -
med
1.0316282 1.0316285 1.0316285 1.0316273 1.0316284 1.0316284 1.0316285 1.0316283 1.0312763 1.0316285 1.0316285
rank 6 1 1 5 2 4 1 8 7 3 1
avg 0.3980165 0.6018112 0.3978874 0.3980571 0.3979973 0.3978874 0.3978874 0.3979132 0.4116021 0.3978874 0.3978874
std 0.0003531 0.5653864 0 0.0002036 0.0004897 1.30E-07 0 3.52E-05 0.0206876 0 0
F17 bsf 0.3978874 0.3978874 0.3978874 0.3978876 0.3978874 0.3978874 0.3978874 0.3978879 0.3979635 0.3978874 0.3978874
med 0.3978938 0.3978874 0.3978874 0.3980127 0.3978875 0.3978874 0.3978874 0.3979045 0.4031937 0.3978874 0.3978874
rank 5 8 1 6 4 2 1 3 7 1 1
avg 3.0098143 3 3 3.0000008 3.0000125 3.0000004 3 8.8017182 7.5115846 3 3
std 0.0243289 2.87E-15 3.44E-15 1.14E-06 1.28E-05 3.31E-07 1.23E-15 20.497606 11.136857 3.529E-16 5.76E-16
F18 bsf 3.0000007 3 3 3 3.0000001 3 3 3.0000003 3.0000033 3 3
med 3.0001376 3 3 3.0000007 3.0000086 3.0000003 3 3.0000084 3.0001994 3 3
rank 8 3 4 6 7 5 2 10 9 1 1
- - - - - - - - - -
avg -3.862782
3.8626818 3.8241312 3.8627821 3.8617086 3.8612086 3.8627821 3.8627425 3.8195154 3.8627821 3.8627821
std 0.0002087 0.1728521 1.97E-15 0.0023471 0.0028936 1.67E-07 2.28E-15 2.60E-05 0.0360682 2.278E-15 2.28E-15
- - - - - - - - -
F19 bsf -3.862751 -3.862781
3.8627821 3.8627821 3.8627821 3.8627816 3.8627821 3.8627821 3.8621529 3.8627821 3.8627821
- - - - - - - - - -
med -3.825845
3.8627639 3.8627821 3.8627821 3.8625048 3.8627639 3.8627821 3.8627821 3.8627476 3.8627821 3.8627821
rank 4 7 1 5 6 2 1 3 8 1 1
- - - - - - - - - -
avg -3.26319
3.2074926 3.2857259 3.3219952 3.2448865 3.2564435 3.3219952 3.2610207 2.5357686 3.3160412 3.3219952
std 0.1330767 0.0665186 3.81E-16 0.0681168 0.0698817 0.0608337 4.44E-16 0.08834 0.4743104 0.0265835 4.44E-16
- - - - - - - - - -
F20 bsf -3.321995
3.3201329 3.3219952 3.3219952 3.3165345 3.3219943 3.3219952 3.3216262 3.0036949 3.3219952 3.3219952
- - - - - - - - - -
med -3.321992
3.2347512 3.3219952 3.3219952 3.2495147 3.2030757 3.3219952 3.3201103 2.7683014 3.3219952 3.3219952
rank 8 3 1 7 4 6 1 5 9 2 1
- - - - - -
avg -6.231103 -9.900112 -10.1532 -5.055196 -10.1532
5.1961582 4.5268585 6.3750274 7.6132836 7.4645915 8.4065104
std 2.5341696 3.0135558 3.5951183 1.9403488 1.1297318 2.6059 2.08E-15 3.1774824 2.788E-07 3.1433508 3.21E-15
- - - - - -
F21 bsf -10.1532 -10.1532 -10.1532 -10.1532 -10.1532
9.8099505 9.2118711 10.153084 10.153189 10.099531 5.0551966
- - - - - - -
med -6.902018 -10.1532 -10.1532 -10.1532
5.2428461 2.6828604 5.3837395 10.152715 7.6269292 9.8476972 5.0551959
rank 8 10 6 7 2 4 1 5 9 3 1
- - - - - - - - - -
F22 avg -9.605593
5.8434567 6.4347072 10.402941 7.3995435 10.402536 10.402941 4.6611193 5.0876679 9.3525262 10.402941
 std 2.7273583 3.7465155 4.08E-15 2.1676383 0.0001684 1.947217 3.65E-15 3.2949226 9.805E-07 2.5719025 3.05E-15
- - - - - - - - - -
bsf -10.0663
10.345307 10.402941 10.402941 10.402846 10.402934 10.402941 10.354892 5.0876699 10.402941 10.402941
- - - - - - - - - - -
med
5.1988266 5.1082473 10.402941 7.8935553 10.402537 10.402859 10.402941 2.7559742 5.0876678 10.402941 10.402941
rank 7 6 1 5 2 3 1 9 8 4 1
- - - - - - - -
avg -10.53641 -10.53641 -10.53641
7.3214569 7.1817094 8.0026439 10.535988 9.1867389 6.9534073 5.1284729 8.7165214
std 2.583081 3.8817584 1.68E-15 2.127303 0.0002421 2.3983439 2.51E-15 3.6225412 1.283E-06 3.2430933 1.82E-15
- - - -
F23 bsf -10.20802 -10.53641 -10.53641 10.444176 10.536352 10.536387 -10.53641 10.422351 -5.128476 -10.53641 -10.53641
- - - - - -
med -10.53641 -10.53641 -10.53641 -10.53641 -10.53641
8.5115441 8.8302784 10.536025 10.536346 7.7068006 5.1284726
rank 7 8 2 6 3 4 2 9 10 5 1
Sum rank 67 58 32 57 48 40 13 72 77 28 10
Mean rank 6.7 5.8 3.2 5.7 4.8 4 1.3 7.2 7.7 2.8 1
Total rank 9 8 4 7 6 5 2 10 11 3 1
Table 4. Results of optimization of the WaOA and competitor metaheuristics on fixed-
dimensional multimodal functions.
Figure 3. The boxplot diagram of WaOA and competitor algorithms performances on functions
F1 to F23.
Statistical analysis.
In this subsection, the superiority of WaOA over competitor algorithms is statistically analyzed
to determine whether this superiority is significant or not. To perform statistical analysis on the
obtained results, Wilcoxon sum rank tes48 is utilized. Wilcoxon sum rank test is a non-parametric
test that is used to detect significant differences between two data samples. The results of
statistical analysis using this test are presented in Table 5. What can be seen from the study of
the simulation results is that WaOA has a significant statistical superiority over the competitor
algorithm in cases where the 𝑝-value is less than 0.05.

Functions type
Compared Algorithms
Unimodal High-Multimodal Fixed-Multimodal
WaOA vs. WSO 1.01E-24 6.25E-18 1.44E-34
WaOA vs. RSA 1.01E-24 2.29E-12 2.09E-26
WaOA vs. MPA 1.01E-24 5.98E-20 1.44E-34
WaOA vs. TSA 1.01E-24 0.044967 1.13E-05
WaOA vs. MVO 1.01E-24 3.17E-18 1.44E-34
WaOA vs. GWO 1.01E-24 1.17E-16 1.44E-34
WaOA vs. TLBO 1.01E-24 2.37E-13 1.44E-34
WaOA vs. GSA 1.01E-24 1.97E-21 3.22E-13
WaOA vs. PSO 1.01E-24 1.97E-21 5.35E-17
WaOA vs. GA 1.01E-24 1.49E-11 1.44E-34

Table 5. Results of Wilcoxon rank sum test.

Sensitivity analysis.
WaOA is a population-based optimizer that performs the optimization process in a repetitive-
based calculation. Accordingly, the parameters 𝑁 (the number of members of the population) and
𝑇 (the total number of iterations of the algorithm) are expected to affect the WaOA optimization
performance. Therefore, WaOA’s sensitivity analysis to parameters 𝑇 and 𝑁 is presented in this
subsection.
For analyzing the sensitivity of WaOA to the parameter 𝑁, the proposed algorithm for different
values of the parameter 𝑁 equal to 20, 30, 50, and 100 is used to optimize the functions of F1 to
F23. Optimization results are given in Table 6, and WaOA’s convergence curves under this
analysis are presented in Figure 4. What is evident from the analysis of WaOA’s sensitivity to
the parameter 𝑁 is that increasing the searcher agents improves WaOA’s search capability in
scanning the search space, which enhances the performance of the proposed algorithm and
reduces the values of the objective function.
For analyzing the sensitivity of the proposed algorithm to the parameter 𝑇, WaOA for different
values of the parameter 𝑇 equal to 200, 500, 800, and 1000 is used to optimize the functions of
F1 to F23. Optimization results are in Table 7, and the WaOA’s convergence curves under this
analysis are presented in Figure 5. Based on the obtained results, it is found that increasing
values of 𝑇 gives the algorithm more opportunity to converge to better solutions based on
exploitation ability. Therefore, it can be seen that with increasing values of 𝑇, the optimization
process has become more efficient, and as a result, the values of the objective function have
decreased.
 Number of Population Members
Objective Function
20 30 50 100
F1 0 0 0 0
F2 1.3E-287 1.9E-291 1.02E-294 3.6E-301
F3 0 0 0 0
F4 3.6E-268 2.5E-272 2.12E-277 1.1E-286
F5 0 0 0 0
F6 0 0 0.00E+00 0
F7 1.42E-05 1.65E-05 1.43E-05 6.27E-06
F8 -8217.03 -8671.19 -8881.11 -8955.43
F9 0 0 0.00E+00 0
F10 2.13E-15 3.38E-15 2.13E-15 2.13E-15
F11 0 0 0.00E+00 0
F12 1.57E-32 1.57E-32 1.57E-32 1.57E-32
F13 1.35E-32 1.35E-32 1.35E-32 1.35E-32
F14 0.998004 0.998004 0.998004 0.998004
F15 0.000359 0.000359 0.000307 0.000307
F16 -1.03163 -1.03163 -1.03163 -1.03163
F17 0.397887 0.397887 0.397887 0.397887
F18 3 3 3 3
F19 -3.86278 -3.86278 -3.86278 -3.86278
F20 -3.29822 -3.30444 -3.322 -3.27444
F21 -8.6238 -10.1532 -10.1532 -10.1532
F22 -9.60565 -10.1372 -10.4029 -10.4029
F23 -10.266 -10.5364 -10.5364 -10.5364
Table 6. Results of WaOA sensitivity analysis to the parameter 𝑁.
Figure 4. WaOA’s convergence curves in the study of sensitivity analysis to the parameter 𝑁.
 Maximum Number of Iterations
Objective Function
200 500 800 1000
F1 1.4E-112 9.5E-287 0 0
F2 1.85E-57 6.7E-147 3.4E-236 1.02E-294
F3 6.04E-83 1.9E-217 0 0
F4 5.11E-54 2.7E-138 1.5E-222 2.12E-277
F5 0 0 0 0
F6 8.52E-05 0 0 0.00E+00
F7 7.89E-05 1.83E-05 2.1E-05 1.43E-05
F8 -8822.99 -8449.52 -8792.24 -8881.11
F9 0 0 0 0.00E+00
F10 2.84E-15 1.42E-15 2.31E-15 2.13E-15
F11 0 0 0 0.00E+00
F12 1.57E-32 1.57E-32 1.57E-32 1.57E-32
F13 1.35E-32 1.35E-32 1.35E-32 1.35E-32
F14 0.998004 0.998004 0.998004 0.998004
F15 0.000313 0.000307 0.000353 0.000307
F16 -1.03163 -1.03163 -1.03163 -1.03163
F17 0.397887 0.397887 0.397887 0.397887
F18 3 3 3 3
F19 -3.86278 -3.86278 -3.86278 -3.86278
F20 -3.27444 -3.27444 -3.29227 -3.322
F21 -10.1532 -10.1532 -10.1532 -10.1532
F22 -10.4029 -10.4029 -10.4029 -10.4029
F23 -9.99562 -10.5364 -10.5364 -10.5364
Table 7. Results of WaOA’s sensitivity analysis to the parameter 𝑇.
 Guide:
Maximum number of iterations

Figure 5. WaOA’s convergence curves in the study of sensitivity analysis to parameter 𝑇.

Evaluation of the CEC 2015 test suite.
The optimization results of the CEC 2015 test suite, including C15-F1 to C15-F15 using WaOA
and competitor algorithms, are released in Table 8. The simulation results show that WaOA is
the best optimizer for C15-F1 to C15-F8, C15-F10, C15-F13, and C15-F14 functions. In
addition, in solving C15-F9 after MVO, in C15-F11after WSO, C15-F12, and C15-F15 after
GSA, the proposed WaOA is the second-best optimizer. Analysis of simulation results shows
that WaOA provides better results in most functions of the CEC 2015 test suite, and in total, with
the first rank of the best optimizer in handling the CEC 2015 test suite, has provided superior
performance compared to competitor algorithms.

WaOA WSO RSA MPA TSA MVO GWO TLBO GSA PSO GA
avg 1.00E+02 4.78E+04 9.04E+07 7.08E+06 2.39E+07 1.28E+06 4.68E+06 4.26E+06 4.81E+06 6.10E+04 2.15E+07
C15-F1 std 1.52E-07 3.50E+04 2.70E+07 3.39E+06 1.88E+07 4.76E+05 5.18E+06 2.29E+06 1.21E+06 5.59E+04 2.36E+07
rank 1 2 11 8 10 4 6 5 7 3 9
avg 2.00E+02 1.01E+04 8.96E+09 4.16E+06 1.70E+09 1.57E+04 6.57E+06 9.88E+07 5.00E+03 3.06E+03 4.05E+06
C15-F2 std 5.06E-06 2.89E+03 1.43E+09 2.32E+06 2.72E+09 8.00E+03 3.53E+06 2.77E+07 1.32E+03 4.98E+03 2.84E+06
rank 1 4 11 7 10 5 8 9 3 2 6
avg 3.15E+02 3.20E+02 3.21E+02 3.20E+02 3.20E+02 3.20E+02 3.20E+02 3.20E+02 3.20E+02 3.20E+02 3.20E+02
C15-F3 std 1.00E+01 5.70E-02 6.29E-02 8.88E-02 1.71E-01 1.23E-02 6.71E-02 5.39E-02 1.22E-05 3.40E-06 1.20E-01
rank 1 10 11 5 8 4 9 7 2 3 6
avg 4.09E+02 4.16E+02 4.68E+02 4.47E+02 4.48E+02 4.25E+02 4.13E+02 4.36E+02 4.32E+02 4.18E+02 4.28E+02
C15-F4 std 2.37E+00 5.77E-01 4.16E+00 1.83E+01 8.18E+00 8.54E+00 3.08E+00 1.44E+00 6.96E+00 8.18E+00 5.21E+00
rank 1 3 11 9 10 5 2 8 7 4 6
avg 6.10E+02 1.11E+03 1.82E+03 1.71E+03 1.54E+03 1.19E+03 1.05E+03 1.59E+03 1.62E+03 1.38E+03 8.01E+02
C15-F5 std 8.78E+01 5.73E+02 1.98E+02 2.44E+02 2.33E+02 1.17E+02 3.06E+02 1.45E+02 1.97E+02 4.01E+02 1.88E+02
rank 1 4 11 10 7 5 3 8 9 6 2
avg 6.06E+02 8.59E+02 1.33E+06 4.45E+05 1.77E+04 5.66E+03 4.48E+04 2.34E+04 9.37E+04 3.97E+03 1.28E+05
C15-F6 std 3.87E+00 1.65E+02 2.22E+06 3.72E+05 2.71E+04 3.44E+03 4.17E+04 2.80E+04 8.35E+04 4.50E+03 2.12E+05
rank 1 2 11 10 5 4 7 6 8 3 9
avg 7.01E+02 7.02E+02 7.25E+02 7.05E+02 7.14E+02 7.02E+02 7.03E+02 7.04E+02 7.04E+02 7.03E+02 7.05E+02
C15-F7 std 3.21E-01 1.04E+00 1.28E+01 1.63E+00 9.16E+00 7.26E-01 1.26E+00 8.04E-01 4.26E-01 1.45E+00 4.35E-01
rank 1 2 11 9 10 3 5 6 7 4 8
avg 8.01E+02 8.66E+02 1.95E+05 1.17E+04 5.30E+05 6.72E+03 4.50E+03 3.27E+03 4.31E+05 8.05E+04 5.37E+05
C15-F8 std 4.81E-01 4.56E+01 2.73E+05 8.05E+03 1.05E+06 7.65E+03 1.67E+03 7.52E+02 5.82E+05 1.52E+05 7.04E+05
rank 1 2 8 6 10 5 4 3 9 7 11
avg 1.00E+03 1.00E+03 1.03E+03 1.00E+03 1.02E+03 1.00E+03 1.00E+03 1.00E+03 1.00E+03 1.00E+03 1.00E+03
C15-F9 std 5.95E-02 5.37E-01 1.82E+00 2.33E-01 2.10E+01 9.06E-02 1.51E-01 9.66E-02 2.03E-01 5.05E-01 2.27E+00
rank 2 8 11 6 10 1 3 5 4 7 9
avg 1.22E+03 1.29E+03 5.75E+04 1.47E+04 8.46E+03 2.45E+03 1.99E+03 4.48E+03 1.43E+05 2.28E+03 8.56E+03
C15-F10 std 2.20E-01 6.41E+01 5.21E+04 1.91E+04 4.47E+03 1.58E+03 6.42E+02 9.19E+02 1.19E+05 6.70E+02 8.29E+03
rank 1 2 10 9 7 5 3 6 11 4 8
avg 1.33E+03 1.26E+03 1.49E+03 1.53E+03 1.35E+03 1.43E+03 1.43E+03 1.33E+03 1.40E+03 1.45E+03 1.33E+03
C15-F11 std 1.48E+02 1.65E+02 7.13E+01 1.42E+02 1.55E+02 6.58E+01 6.80E+01 1.40E+02 8.10E-01 1.09E+02 1.40E+02
rank 2 1 10 11 5 7 8 3 6 9 4
avg 1.30E+03 1.31E+03 1.34E+03 1.31E+03 1.31E+03 1.30E+03 1.30E+03 1.31E+03 1.30E+03 1.30E+03 1.31E+03
C15-F12 std 4.54E-01 4.00E+00 6.01E+00 5.81E+00 2.14E+01 4.61E-01 6.84E-01 1.28E+00 4.74E-01 1.11E+00 1.86E+00
rank 2 7 11 8 10 4 3 6 1 5 9
avg 1.30E+03 1.30E+03 1.30E+03 1.30E+03 1.31E+03 1.30E+03 1.30E+03 1.30E+03 1.53E+03 1.30E+03 1.30E+03
C15-F13
std 6.61E-05 8.56E-02 7.92E-02 9.65E-04 8.72E+00 1.89E-04 7.89E-05 9.94E-04 2.26E+02 2.44E-03 9.98E-01
 rank 1 8 7 4 10 3 2 5 9
11 6
avg 3.63E+03 3.68E+03 1.37E+04 8.39E+03 1.05E+04 5.37E+03 7.76E+03 7.13E+03 7.04E+03 4.72E+03 4.54E+03
C15-F14 std 1.42E+03 1.41E+03 3.62E+03 1.54E+01 3.76E+03 4.16E+03 1.65E+03 3.33E+03 3.80E+03 6.28E+02 9.97E+02
rank 1 2 11 9 10 5 8 7 6 4 3
avg 1.60E+03 1.60E+03 2.25E+03 1.60E+03 2.56E+03 1.60E+03 1.61E+03 1.61E+03 1.60E+03 1.61E+03 1.62E+03
C15-F15 std 1.56E-06 5.86E+00 3.88E+02 1.14E+00 1.85E+03 8.24E-03 1.14E+01 1.98E+00 4.71E-10 1.19E+01 3.03E+00
rank 2 4 10 5 11 3 8 7 1 6 9
Sum rank 19 61 155 116 133 63 79 91 92 73 108
Mean rank 1.2666667 4.0666667 10.333333 7.7333333 8.8666667 4.2 5.2666667 6.0666667 6.1333333 4.8666667 7.2
Total rank 1 2 11 9 10 3 5 6 7 4 8
Table 8. Evaluation results of the CEC 2015 test suite functions.

Evaluation of the CEC 2017 test suite.

The employment results of WaOA and competitor algorithms on the CEC 2017 test suite
including functions C17-F1 to C17-F30 are presented in Table 9. What can be seen from the
analysis of the simulation results is that WaOA is the first best optimizer for C17-F1 to C17-F6,
C17-F8 to C17-F30 functions. in solving C17-F7, proposed WaOA after GSA is the second-best
optimizer. Comparison of simulation results shows that WaOA has provided better results in
most functions of CEC 2017 test suite, and has provided superior performance in solving this test
suite compared to competing algorithms.
WaOA WSO RSA MPA TSA MVO GWO TLBO GSA PSO GA
avg 100.00004 4005.6583 9.571E+09 4504091.7 5.069E+09 5898.8934 7663270.9 86504717 202.1255 2974.6435 13576411
C17-F1 std 3.857E-05 5309.3214 2.312E+09 2221337.5 7.611E+09 1961.9458 15264926 25190665 115.01188 3068.4227 1781695.6
rank 1 4 11 6 10 5 7 9 2 3 8
avg 200.00002 4228.1754 1.994E+10 37313852 1.455E+10 23697.882 7468532.5 257121613 1255.1705 35032131 32991045
C17-F2 std 1.18E-05 4865.4087 4.47E+09 56709504 1.041E+10 10810.599 14605747 52488502 1160.2677 70055940 19701103
rank 1 3 11 8 10 4 5 9 2 7 6
avg 300 300.66248 12372.195 1538.0906 7983.9163 300.03174 4578.8062 970.53362 9455.1389 300 40090.229
C17-F3 std 1.573E-10 8.10E-01 3673.3763 823.4105 7228.3746 0.0177723 3242.8635 479.35917 3173.5597 5.684E-14 1.61E+04
rank 2 4 10 6 8 3 7 5 9 1 11
avg 400 402.69156 1204.7711 479.68829 554.74363 403.83135 407.54618 430.18871 410.28556 402.6291 418.7015
C17-F4 std 4.122E-07 2.9072717 624.83773 61.325713 90.662778 1.5737425 0.3059483 28.554211 8.7544971 3.7996053 3.0735855
rank 1 3 11 9 10 4 5 8 6 2 7
avg 510.19832 511.44508 604.14973 567.45322 565.26475 522.7829 520.19777 536.33148 549.0015 538.55953 536.08736
C17-F5 std 1.6992136 0.5709551 9.5964298 16.615571 8.2775098 15.06703 12.849548 5.835234 6.9587408 13.157491 5.0403291
rank 1 2 11 10 9 4 3 6 8 7 5
avg 600.00031 601.71109 644.53432 634.05295 638.7989 603.06512 600.61836 612.47322 621.10746 610.33258 610.23111
C17-F6 std 0.0001343 1.463828 9.7346987 12.368649 14.732547 3.339361 0.6472702 2.8673291 8.0147542 8.4990205 2.0708594
rank 1 3 11 9 10 4 2 7 8 6 5
avg 717.64017 722.19608 800.7207 766.54081 822.42204 729.56658 732.19707 753.07534 716.49748 730.7263 742.2823
C17-F7 std 2.1495234 8.303089 3.2023255 25.183691 16.346488 8.1279419 5.5558736 9.5461724 3.9191109 10.55981 1.6662753
rank 2 3 10 9 11 4 6 8 1 5 7
avg 808.45715 811.95306 863.08934 835.50469 831.72026 827.1168 811.8188 831.86546 819.89915 823.38149 823.11839
C17-F8 std 1.7233196 2.1495061 6.7267648 6.3444503 7.8313473 19.350475 4.3750491 6.9014827 3.1463198 6.9171262 5.2318773
rank 1 3 11 10 8 7 2 9 4 6 5
avg 900 905.23523 1654.0566 1539.8706 1144.9518 900.0254 962.68206 932.13388 955.75337 926.84022 904.554
C17-F9 std 1.683E-08 6.98E+00 2.84E+02 547.48016 86.402315 0.0434752 72.920311 29.975945 66.794413 42.552004 1.6048115
rank 1 4 11 10 9 2 8 6 7 5 3
avg 1609.1526 1697.3584 2579.7024 2103.8934 2047.56 1766.1425 1628.3692 2487.3367 2738.2993 2016.4711 1680.1752
C17-F10 std 63.444048 324.93072 306.17817 343.97201 167.25007 495.29733 36.706618 196.14215 414.01026 125.5258 195.94284
rank 1 4 10 8 7 5 2 9 11 6 3
avg 1102.9976 1109.5838 5308.3512 1211.7691 1248.9475 1135.9375 1153.3651 1154.9136 1123.9687 1153.7295 1932.1708
C17-F11 std 1.8340875 8.9302238 2509.2652 45.169228 134.61252 24.701296 56.570343 24.344365 8.2568248 10.621192 1460.7433
rank 1 2 11 8 9 4 5 7 3 6 10
C17-F12 avg 1224.2329 6371.0574 323042178 4940009.8 4337558 6.74E+05 522985.26 3104175.8 948157.78 18665.709 1728527.2
 std 19.82966 5237.7263 138057073 5936430.7 4356750.6 6.13E+05 523173.23 2091217.6 1265852.4 12647.309 2601729.6
rank 1 2 11 10 9 5 4 8 6 3 7
avg 1304.3998 1436.2569 3433392.8 13523.963 14864.261 1.50E+04 7408.9458 15870.564 12818.438 8543.6896 17948.699
C17-F13 std 1.8121278 85.771613 3712009.2 11827.768 6748.8206 1.26E+04 8552.8328 1481.2216 2473.5339 5115.9967 12398.879
rank 1 2 11 6 7 8 3 9 5 4 10
avg 1402.7375 1447.3093 16184.889 2824.7697 3410.3822 1442.5054 3315.0362 1552.051 6218.272 2979.7936 5062.1231
C17-F14 std 0.9531651 17.56891 15042.221 1783.7714 2195.5301 16.313511 2077.2433 28.205894 929.37787 1240.587 6330.4778
rank 1 3 11 5 8 2 7 4 10 6 9
avg 1500.457 1520.2257 12335.319 8356.3696 6352.9142 1841.005 6220.8329 1680.1684 17291.842 4169.7606 3902.2726
C17-F15 std 0.1910035 14.358268 8013.0628 9589.7211 3732.9251 633.67594 1192.3378 37.759578 6993.8156 2919.2862 2148.9119
rank 1 2 10 9 8 4 7 3 11 6 5
avg 1601.3414 1666.8615 2044.7313 1977.7889 1879.6084 1732.9873 1733.6205 1715.3545 2123.5173 1881.8063 1821.5272
C17-F16 std 0.2819816 73.125749 77.078212 260.53269 116.61807 160.42116 104.31509 111.73755 99.236078 168.24657 58.360282
rank 1 2 10 9 7 4 5 3 11 8 6
avg 1722.8854 1744.8219 1840.2169 1772.1101 1851.4808 1756.9088 1772.6013 1777.1329 1835.1183 1784.4765 1754.133
C17-F17 std 1.2581607 13.521179 38.112673 28.70145 104.05434 52.167653 50.02034 27.487099 101.85986 66.170275 5.5600511
rank 1 2 10 5 11 4 6 7 9 8 3
avg 1801.4365 1829.7721 99279162 27952.74 35640.588 13759.79 28891.102 47436.515 5694.8466 12575.652 12737.378
C17-F18 std 1.3307674 17.083301 138699482 17630.376 21701.121 10600.924 20917.048 20041.434 4745.3429 16839.651 8104.9154
rank 1 2 11 7 9 6 8 10 3 4 5
avg 1900.7242 1903.9714 527934.93 27988.531 77738.078 2193.5018 8215.5575 2025.1666 36470.027 61702.038 4801.2686
C17-F19 std 0.193972 3.2499933 636547.59 20663.325 134371.74 433.48789 8056.2529 39.983743 12447.72 101179.04 5033.0595
rank 1 2 11 7 10 4 6 3 8 9 5
avg 2010.7371 2064.4114 2301.9518 2189.5507 2160.5974 2151.2179 2047.7079 2085.9689 2365.5044 2148.9694 2056.9687
C17-F20 std 10.208906 57.733768 25.000475 88.30438 70.431939 26.93479 16.640885 18.109296 131.50071 51.212021 4.5614343
rank 1 4 10 9 8 7 2 5 11 6 3
avg 2200 2290.8044 2346.8044 2352.0055 2317.1897 2319.8346 2314.2228 2272.5201 2351.4715 2336.4486 2227.6461
C17-F21 std 6.913E-06 44.47952 72.243642 25.285867 69.593129 9.1135999 3.2521393 76.685514 30.582882 2.2640433 10.653304
rank 1 4 9 11 6 7 5 3 10 8 2
avg 2250.496 2312.7444 2996.635 2314.3395 2533.9327 2303.6528 2306.5265 2333.2749 2300.0861 2314.0531 2316.0897
C17-F22 std 58.307723 6.0920769 180.07862 17.751045 100.92037 1.2728103 2.6166121 10.956332 0.1722197 24.064845 3.4298382
rank 1 5 11 7 10 3 4 9 2 6 8
avg 2610.776 2635.008 2689.6255 2650.6824 2754.766 2618.9319 2621.7636 2632.4649 2756.311 2657.0042 2661.2858
C17-F23 std 2.9977776 13.912924 11.692104 19.466531 45.976842 6.4893472 15.056006 4.3053546 71.277096 41.148475 11.807443
rank 1 5 9 6 10 2 3 4 11 7 8
avg 2500.0003 2682.498 2870.0973 2771.212 2834.0566 2754.0268 2741.1157 2763.4569 2652.4055 2632.2162 2654.7784
C17-F24 std 0.000142 121.66169 31.220112 12.686776 39.395546 7.1079038 10.523085 6.7503475 176.04108 152.7966 149.58103
rank 1 5 11 9 10 7 6 8 3 2 4
avg 2897.7436 2935.6309 3343.3736 2951.7858 3087.8795 2921.0788 2928.416 2941.3726 2932.6657 2909.618 2954.021
C17-F25 std 0.0014007 25.405188 59.618626 33.467254 373.67949 26.250929 14.749164 17.883979 22.027622 23.135637 3.1906326
rank 1 6 11 8 10 3 4 7 5 2 9
avg 2825.0016 3025.6385 4345.855 3648.1255 3431.5898 3170.0765 2886.8783 2976.3185 3624.8912 3420.5334 3069.0681
C17-F26 std 49.998967 104.41524 106.17494 585.55715 354.13465 539.96121 92.382389 29.400728 708.34009 727.58805 35.394045
rank 1 4 11 10 8 6 2 3 9 7 5
avg 3089.2093 3120.0204 3158.1751 3128.4995 3161.7517 3108.5107 3112.2837 3108.2979 3252.8976 3136.9496 3141.3768
C17-F27 std 0.2503956 22.336942 30.215021 34.632185 61.440793 28.654321 41.837057 23.994805 6.1472642 38.942622 32.540974
rank 1 5 9 6 10 3 4 2 11 7 8
avg 3100.0001 3173.5788 3740.2471 3535.0128 3627.3232 3264.0278 3423.2143 3437.5636 3478.1634 3279.8176 3359.2612
C17-F28 std 3.817E-05 140.20046 197.0247 154.22247 80.831235 156.81375 12.61691 213.69409 12.226383 147.67403 1.56E+02
rank 1 2 11 9 10 3 6 7 8 4 5
avg 3143.6425 3188.9391 3437.8261 3361.7066 3309.3923 3226.1848 3191.8576 3180.659 3345.3659 3248.8239 3220.4056
C17-F29 std 13.341168 12.648429 200.8649 94.237596 158.43895 35.134243 20.713203 36.903709 137.98739 62.700717 30.026932
rank 1 3 11 10 8 6 4 2 9 7 5
avg 3396.3409 3932.8711 9969841 1378673.9 4145442 38155.39 868418.89 905676.07 1427094.7 10054.76 1317197.3
C17-F30 std 0.846773 301.84652 7022481.1 1278684 3562683.3 2.66E+04 812465.74 875023.24 477453.09 4035.7159 1114518.6
rank 1 2 11 8 10 4 5 6 9 3 7
Sum rank 32 97 317 244 270 134 143 186 212 161 184
Mean rank 1.0666667 3.2333333 10.566667 8.1333333 9 4.4666667 4.7666667 6.2 7.0666667 5.3666667 6.1333333
Total rank 1 2 11 9 10 3 4 7 8 5 6
Table 9. Evaluation results of the CEC 2017 test suite functions.
WaOA’s application to real-world problems
Metaheuristic algorithms are one of the most widely used techniques in dealing with real-world
applications. This section tests WaOA performance in optimizing four engineering design
challenges.
TENSION/COMPRESSION SPRING DESING OPTIMIZATION PROBLEM.
Tension/compression spring design is a challenge in real-world applications with the aim of
minimizing the weight of tension/compression spring. A schematic of this design is shown in
Figure 6 49. The tension/compression spring problem formulation is as follows:
Consider 𝑋 = [𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 ] = [𝑑, 𝐷, 𝑃].
Minimize 𝑓 (𝑥) = (𝑥3 + 2)𝑥2 𝑥12 .

Subject to:
𝑥23 𝑥3 4𝑥22 − 𝑥1 𝑥2 1
𝑔1 (𝑥) = 1 − ≤ 0, 𝑔2 (𝑥) = 3 + − 1 ≤ 0,
71785𝑥14 12566(𝑥2 𝑥1 ) 5108𝑥12
140.45𝑥1 𝑥1 +𝑥2
𝑔3 (𝑥) = 1 − ≤ 0, 𝑔4 (𝑥) = − 1 ≤ 0.
𝑥22 𝑥3 1.5
With
0.05 ≤ 𝑥1 ≤ 2, 0.25 ≤ 𝑥2 ≤ 1.3 and 2 ≤ 𝑥3 ≤ 15.

The results of using WaOA and competing algorithms in optimizing the Tension/compression
spring design variables are presented in Table 10. The simulation results show that WaOA has
provided the optimal solution to this problem with the values of the variables equal to
(0.0519693, 0.363467, 10.9084) and the corresponding objective function value equal to
0.012672. The statistical results obtained from the performance of WaOA and competitor
algorithms are reported in Table 11, which shows the superiority of WaOA in providing better
values for statistical indicators. The WaOA convergence curve while achieving the solution for
tension/compression spring is shown in Figure 7.

Figure 6. Schematic view of the tension/compression spring problem.

Figure 7. Convergence analysis of the WaOA for the tension/compression spring design
optimization problem.

Optimum
Algorithm Optimum cost
variables
d D P
WaOA 0.0519693 0.363467 10.9084 0.012672
WSO 0.057641 0.583026 14.00465 0.012722
RSA 0.051734 0.360336 11.54961 0.01317
MPA 0.050657 0.340484 11.98053 0.012782
TSA 0.049701 0.338294 11.95873 0.012786
MVO 0.049525 0.307463 14.85743 0.013305
GWO 0.049525 0.312953 14.09102 0.012926
TLBO 0.050297 0.331597 12.60176 0.012818
GSA 0.049525 0.314295 14.09343 0.012983
PSO 0.049624 0.307163 13.86693 0.013147
GA 0.049772 0.313344 15.09475 0.012885

Table 10. Comparison results for the tension/compression spring design problem.

Algorithm Best Mean Worst Std. Dev. Median

WaOA 0.012672 0.012701 0.012706 0.001106 0.012700
WSO 0.012722 0.012754 0.012766 0.007391 0.012744
RSA 0.01317 0.013848 0.015774 0.006119 0.013727
MPA 0.012782 0.012799 0.01283 0.00567 0.012802
TSA 0.012786 0.012812 0.012836 0.004191 0.012815
MVO 0.013305 0.014951 0.018023 0.002293 0.013312
GWO 0.012926 0.014594 0.018 0.001636 0.014147
TLBO 0.012818 0.012956 0.013116 0.007828 0.012961
GSA 0.012983 0.01356 0.01434 0.000289 0.013488
PSO 0.013147 0.014162 0.016398 0.002092 0.013119
GA 0.012885 0.013188 0.015352 0.000378 0.013069

Table 11. Statistical results for the tension/compression spring design problem.
Welded beam design.
Welded beam design is a real global challenge in engineering sciences whose main goal in
design is to reduce the fabrication cost of the welded beam. A schematic of this design is shown
in Figure 8 49. The formulation of welded beam design problem is as follows:
Consider 𝑋 = [𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 , 𝑥4 ] = [ℎ, 𝑙, 𝑡, 𝑏].
Minimize 𝑓 (𝑥) = 1.10471𝑥12 𝑥2 + 0.04811𝑥3 𝑥4 (14.0 + 𝑥2 ).
Subject to:
𝑔1 (𝑥) = 𝜏(𝑥) − 13600 ≤ 0, 𝑔2 (𝑥) = 𝜎(𝑥) − 30000 ≤ 0,
𝑔3 (𝑥) = 𝑥1 − 𝑥4 ≤ 0, 𝑔4 (𝑥) = 0.10471𝑥12 + 0.04811𝑥3 𝑥4 (14 + 𝑥2 ) − 5.0 ≤ 0,
𝑔5 (𝑥) = 0.125 − 𝑥1 ≤ 0, 𝑔6 (𝑥) = 𝛿 (𝑥) − 0.25 ≤ 0, 𝑔7 (𝑥) = 6000 − 𝑝𝑐 (𝑥) ≤ 0.
Where
𝑥2 6000 𝑀𝑅
𝜏(𝑥) = √(𝜏 ′ )2 + (2𝜏𝜏 ′ ) + (𝜏")2 , 𝜏′ = , 𝜏" = ,
2𝑅 √2𝑥1 𝑥2 𝐽

𝑥2 𝑥22 𝑥1 + 𝑥3 2 𝑥22 𝑥1 + 𝑥3 2
𝑀 = 6000 (14 + ),𝑅 = √ +( ) , 𝐽 = 2√2𝑥1 𝑥2 ( + ( ) ),
2 4 2 12 2
504000 65856000
𝜎(𝑥) = , 𝛿 (𝑥) = (30∙106)𝑥 3 ,
𝑥4 𝑥32 4 𝑥3

4.013(30 ∙ 106 )𝑥3 𝑥43 𝑥3 30 ∙ 106

𝑝𝑐 (𝑥) = (1 − √ ).
3 ∙ 196 28 4(12 ∙ 106 )

With
0.1 ≤ 𝑥1 , 𝑥4 ≤ 2 and 0.1 ≤ 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 ≤ 10.
WaOA and competing algorithms are implemented on the welded beam design problem, and the
results are presented in Table 12. Based on these results, WaOA has provided the optimal
solution to this problem with the values of the variables equal to (0.20573, 3.470489, 9.036624,
0.20573) and the corresponding objective function value equal to 1.724901. Statistical results
from the performance of WaOA and competitor algorithms are reported in Table 13. This table
shows that WaOA performs better in terms of statistical indicators. The convergence curve from
the WaOA implementation on the welded beam design is shown in Figure 9.

Figure 8. Schematic view of the welded beam design problem.

Figure 9. Convergence analysis of the WaOA for the welded beam design optimization
problem.

Algorithm Optimum variables Optimum cost

h l t b
WaOA 0.20573 3.470489 9.036624 0.20573 1.724901
WSO 0.205721 3.470747 9.037504 0.205721 1.725082
RSA 0.218482 3.510591 8.873427 0.224932 1.866307
MPA 0.205604 3.475541 9.037606 0.205852 1.728002
TSA 0.205719 3.476098 9.03877 0.20627 1.729338
MVO 0.19745 3.315724 10.0000 0.201435 1.822865
GWO 0.205652 3.472796 9.042739 0.20575 1.727813
TLBO 0.204736 3.536998 9.006091 0.210067 1.761559
GSA 0.147127 5.491842 10.0000 0.217769 2.175806
PSO 0.164204 4.033348 10.0000 0.223692 1.876513
GA 0.206528 3.636599 10.0000 0.20329 1.838741
Table 12. Comparison results for the welded beam design problem.

Algorithm Best Mean Worst Std. Dev. Median

WaOA 1.724901 1.7270245 1.731028 0.005142 1.724508
WSO 1.725082 1.727023 1.725022 0.007133 1.726027
RSA 1.866307 1.892247 2.01658 0.007961 1.883728
MPA 1.728002 1.729207 1.729443 0.000287 1.729166
TSA 1.729338 1.730509 1.730945 0.001159 1.730468
MVO 1.822865 2.234675 3.054198 0.325161 2.249057
GWO 1.727813 1.733066 1.74506 0.004876 1.730801
TLBO 1.761559 1.821214 1.877075 0.027597 1.823691
GSA 2.175806 2.549219 3.009536 0.25636 2.499998
PSO 1.876513 2.123388 2.324666 0.034888 2.101153
GA 1.838741 1.366196 2.039231 0.139758 1.939537
Table 13. Statistical results for the welded beam design problem.
Speed reducer design.
Speed reducer design is a real-world engineering optimization challenge aimed at minimizing the
weight of the speed reducer. A schematic of this design is shown in Figure 10 50,51. The speed
reducer design problem is formulated as follows:
Consider 𝑋 = [𝑥1, 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 , 𝑥4 , 𝑥5 , 𝑥6 , 𝑥7 ] = [𝑏, 𝑚, 𝑝, 𝑙1 , 𝑙2 , 𝑑1 , 𝑑2 ].
Minimize 𝑓 (𝑥) = 0.7854𝑥1 𝑥22 (3.3333𝑥32 + 14.9334𝑥3 − 43.0934) − 1.508𝑥1 (𝑥62 + 𝑥72 ) +
7.4777(𝑥63 + 𝑥73 ) + 0.7854(𝑥4 𝑥62 + 𝑥5 𝑥72 ).
Subject to:
27 397.5 1.93𝑥43
𝑔1 (𝑥) = − 1 ≤ 0, 𝑔 2 (𝑥) = − 1 ≤ 0, 𝑔 3 (𝑥) = − 1 ≤ 0,
𝑥1 𝑥22 𝑥3 𝑥1 𝑥22 𝑥3 𝑥2 𝑥3 𝑥64

1.93𝑥53 1 745𝑥4 2
𝑔4 (𝑥) = − 1 ≤ 0, 𝑔5 (𝑥) = √ ( ) + 16.9 ∙ 106 − 1 ≤ 0,
𝑥2 𝑥3 𝑥74 110𝑥63 𝑥2 𝑥3

1 745𝑥5 2
𝑔6 (𝑥) = √( ) + 157.5 ∙ 106 − 1 ≤ 0,
85𝑥73 𝑥2 𝑥3
𝑥2 𝑥3 5𝑥2 𝑥1
𝑔7 (𝑥) = − 1 ≤ 0, 𝑔8 (𝑥) = − 1 ≤ 0, 𝑔9 (𝑥) = − 1 ≤ 0,
40 𝑥1 12𝑥2
1.5𝑥6 + 1.9 1.1𝑥7 + 1.9
𝑔10 (𝑥) = − 1 ≤ 0, 𝑔11 (𝑥) = − 1 ≤ 0.
𝑥4 𝑥5
With
2.6 ≤ 𝑥1 ≤ 3.6, 0.7 ≤ 𝑥2 ≤ 0.8, 17 ≤ 𝑥3 ≤ 28, 7.3 ≤ 𝑥4 ≤ 8.3, 7.8 ≤ 𝑥5 ≤ 8.3, 2.9 ≤ 𝑥6 ≤ 3.9,
and 5 ≤ 𝑥7 ≤ 5.5 .
The results obtained by employing WaOA and competitor algorithms in speed reducer design
optimization are reported in Table 14. The results show that WaOA has provided the optimal
solution to this problem with the values of the variables equal to (3.5, 0.7, 17, 7.3, 7.8, 3.35021,
5.28668) and the corresponding objective function value equal to 2996.3482. The statistical
results obtained from WaOA and the algorithms compared in Table 15 are released, which
indicates the superiority of the proposed WaOA. The WaOA convergence curve while getting
the solution to the speed reducer design problem is shown in Figure 11.

Figure 10. Schematic view of the speed reducer design problem.

Figure 11. Convergence analysis of the WaOA for the speed reducer design optimization
problem.

Optimum
Algorithm Optimum variables cost
b m p l1 l2 d1 d2
WaOA 3.50000 0.700007 17 7.3 7.8 3.350209 5.286683 2996.3482
WSO 3.504191 0.70028 17.0068 7.311043 7.750249 3.35201 5.288865 2997.714
RSA 3.510772 0.70028 17.0068 7.399095 7.803283 3.361271 5.291898 3006.339
MPA 3.498013 0.698879 16.97279 7.288825 7.787514 3.347813 5.283283 2997.045
TSA 3.503107 0.698879 16.97279 7.36976 7.80327 3.354383 5.281313 2999.781
MVO 3.496443 0.698879 16.97279 8.287294 7.787569 3.348954 5.281261 3004.253
GWO 3.504918 0.698879 16.97279 7.398892 7.803577 3.354609 5.281322 3001.42
TLBO 3.50517 0.698879 16.97279 7.288316 7.787514 3.45745 5.283757 3029.041
GSA 3.596322 0.698879 16.97279 8.287294 7.787514 3.366182 5.283768 3049.589
PSO 3.506667 0.698879 16.97279 8.337218 7.787514 3.358732 5.282268 3066.02
GA 3.516528 0.698879 16.97279 8.357187 7.787514 3.363496 5.283262 3027.481
Table 14. Comparison results for the speed reducer design problem.
Algorithm Best Mean Worst Std. Dev. Median
WaOA 2996.3482 2999.4961 3000.972 1.2463198 2998.6108
WSO 2997.714 3003.365 3008.597 5.221708 3001.932
RSA 3006.339 3013.236 3028.83 10.37327 3011.845
MPA 2997.045 2999.033 3003.281 1.931539 2999.979
TSA 2999.781 3005.237 3008.143 5.836758 3003.911
MVO 3004.253 3104.623 3210.524 79.62197 3104.623
GWO 3001.42 3028.228 3060.338 13.01596 3026.419
TLBO 3029.041 3065.296 3104.15 18.07054 3064.988
GSA 3049.589 3169.692 3363.192 92.55386 3156.113
PSO 3066.02 3185.877 3312.529 17.11513 3197.539
GA 3027.481 3294.662 3618.732 57.01195 3287.991
Table 15. Statistical results for the speed reducer design problem.
Pressure vessel design.
Pressure vessel design is a real-world optimization challenge that aims to reduce design costs. A
schematic of this design is shown in Figure 12 52. The formulation of pressure vessel design
problem is as follows:
Consider 𝑋 = [𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 , 𝑥4 ] = [𝑇𝑠 , 𝑇ℎ , 𝑅, 𝐿].
Minimize 𝑓 (𝑥) = 0.6224𝑥1 𝑥3 𝑥4 + 1.778𝑥2 𝑥32 + 3.1661𝑥12 𝑥4 + 19.84𝑥12 𝑥3 .
Subject to:
𝑔1 (𝑥) = −𝑥1 + 0.0193𝑥3 ≤ 0, 𝑔2 (𝑥) = −𝑥2 + 0.00954𝑥3 ≤ 0,
4
𝑔3 (𝑥) = −𝜋𝑥32 𝑥4 − 𝜋𝑥33 + 1296000 ≤ 0, 𝑔4 (𝑥) = 𝑥4 − 240 ≤ 0.
3
With
0 ≤ 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 ≤ 100, and 10 ≤ 𝑥3 , 𝑥4 ≤ 200.
WaOA and competitor algorithms are used in optimizing pressure vessel design. The results
obtained for the design variables of this topic are released in Table 16. Based on this table,
WaOA provides the optimal values of the design variables equal to (0.7782641, 0.3847753,
40.32163, 199.8713), which leads to the value equal to 5883.9604 for the objective function. The
statistical indicators results obtained of performances of WaOA and competitor algorithms are
presented in Table 17. Statistical results indicate that WaOA has effectively optimized the
pressure vessel design challenge by providing more favorable values for statistical indicators.
The WaOA convergence curve in achieving the optimal solution is shown in Figure 13.

Figure 12. Schematic view of the pressure vessel design problem.

Figure 13. Convergence analysis of the WaOA for the pressure vessel design optimization
problem.
Algorithm Optimum variables Optimum cost
Ts Th R L
WaOA 0.778264 0.384775 40.32163 199.8713 5883.9604
WSO 0.836709 0.417284 43.20765 160.9094 6010.62
RSA 0.810993 0.443429 42.0335 175.915 6088.866
MPA 0.795294 0.393338 41.20008 200 5909.092
TSA 0.796137 0.393104 41.21311 200 5912.899
MVO 0.826206 0.444881 42.80841 179.6187 5914.925
GWO 0.864286 0.427753 44.77817 159.8146 6035.531
TLBO 0.835526 0.427107 42.66592 187.6027 6161.892
GSA 1.109637 0.970461 50.4285 173.2081 11596.44
PSO 0.768879 0.408312 41.34057 202.3494 5913.862
GA 1.123661 0.926481 45.43235 183.6029 6576.192
Table 16. Comparison results for the pressure vessel design problem.

Algorithm Best Mean Worst Std. Dev. Median

WaOA 5884.8824 5887.201 5894.172 21.041638 5886.401
WSO 6010.62 6017.883 6021.73 31.07972 6015.981
RSA 6088.866 6096.722 6107.989 38.11009 6094.545
MPA 5909.092 5913.984 5918.883 29.06042 5912.763
TSA 5912.899 5918.082 5921.196 13.97272 5917.204
MVO 5914.925 6092.358 7427.921 66.91891 6445.037
GWO 6035.531 6506.504 7283.603 328.4812 6426.319
TLBO 6161.892 6355.281 6541.711 127.1797 6346.8
GSA 11596.44 6871.379 7191.564 5816.728 6868.456
PSO 5913.862 6292.242 7037.332 498.3645 6140.245
GA 6576.192 6673.937 8041.527 660.4871 7620.206
Table 17. Statistical results for the pressure vessel design problem.

Conclusions and future works

In this study, a new bio-inspired metaheuristic algorithm called the Walrus Optimization
Algorithm (WaOA) was developed based on the natural behaviors of walruses. The process of
feeding, escaping, fighting predators, and migrating sources of inspiration is WaOA design. The
WaOA was mathematically modeled for use in optimization applications. Sixty-eight standard
benchmark functions of various types of unimodal, multimodal, the CEC 2015 test suite, and the
CEC 2017 test suite, were employed to analyze WaOA performance in providing solutions. The
optimization results of unimodal functions showed the high ability of WaOA exploitation in
local search to converge towards global optimal. The optimization results of multimodal
functions indicated the high ability of WaOA exploration in global search and not to be caught in
locally optimal solutions. WaOA's performance results were compared with the ten well-known
metaheuristic algorithms. The simulation and comparison results showed that the proposed
WaOA approach has a high ability to balance exploration and exploitation and is much superior
and more competitive against ten competitor metaheuristic algorithms. In addition, the results of
the WaOA implementation in addressing the four design issues demonstrated the effectiveness of
the proposed approach in real-world applications.
The authors offer several study directions for future research, including designing the multi-
objective version of WaOA and the binary version of WaOA. In addition, the use of WaOA in
solving optimization problems in real-world applications is a possible line for further research.

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Funding information
This work was supported by the Project of Specific Research, Faculty of Science, University of
Hradec Králové, No. 2104/2022.

Author contribution statements

Conceptualization, P.T.; methodology, P.T.; software, M.D.; validation, P.T. and M.D.; formal
analysis, M.D.; investigation, P.T.; resources, P.T..; data curation, P.T. and M.D.; writing—
original draft preparation, P.T. and M.D.; writing—review and editing, P.T. and M.D.;
visualization, P.T.; supervision, P.T..; project administration, M.D.; funding acquisition, P.T.

Competing interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Informed Consent
Informed consent was not required as no human or animals were involved.

Ethical Approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of
the authors.

Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included directly in the text of this submitted
manuscript. There are no additional external files with datasets.

Additional information
The authors declare that no experiments on humans have been carried out in connection with this
manuscript and therefore no human data have been generated in our research. Correspondence
and requests for materials should be addressed to P.T.
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AppendixWaOA16102022.docx