Charles Audet This paper describes a parallel space decomposition PSD technique for the mesh adaptive direct search MADS algorithm. MADS extends a generalized pattern search for constrained nonsmooth optimization problems. The objective of the present work is to obtain good solutions to larger problems than the ones typically solved by MADS. The new method PSD-MADS is an … Read more
he purpose of this paper is to introduce a new way of choosing directions for the mesh adaptive direct search (Mads) class of algorithms. The advantages of this new OrthoMads instantiation of Mads are that the polling directions are chosen deterministically, ensuring that the results of a given run are repeatable, and that they are … Read more
The objectives of this paper are twofold; we first demonstrate the flexibility of the mesh adaptive direct search (MADS) in identifying locally optimal algorithmic parameters. This is done by devising a general framework for parameter tuning. The framework makes provision for surrogate objectives. Parameters are sought so as to minimize some measure of performance of … Read more
This paper presents and analyzes a pattern search method for general constrained optimization based on filter methods for step acceptance. Roughly, a filter method accepts a step that either improves the objective function value or the value of some function that measures the constraint violation. The new algorithm does not compute or approximate any derivatives, … Read more
Recently, general definitions of pattern search methods for both unconstrained and linearly constrained optimization were presented. It was shown under mild conditions, that there exists a subsequence of iterates converging to a stationary point. In the unconstrained case, stronger results are derived under additional assumptions. In this paper, we present three small dimensioned examples showing … Read more
Many engineering optimization problems involve a special kind of discrete variable that {\em can} be represented by a number, but this representation has no significance. Such variables arise when a decision involves some situation like a choice from an unordered list of categories. This has two implications: The standard approach of solving problems with continuous … Read more
In the literature, thermal insulation systems with a fixed number of heat intercepts have been optimized with respect to intercept locations and temperatures. The number of intercepts and the types of insulators that surround them were chosen by parametric studies. This was because the optimization methods used could not treat such categorical variables. Discrete optimization … Read more