Overview of Harmony Search algorithm and its applications in Civil Engineering

Abstract

Harmony Search (HS), a meta-heuristic algorithm, conceptualizes a musical process of searching for a perfect state of harmony (optimal solution). It allows a random search without initial values and removes the necessity for information of derivatives. Since the HS algorithm was first developed and published in 2001, it has been applied to various research areas and the world wide attention on it has rapidly increased. In this paper, applications of HS algorithm in Civil Engineering (CE) are to be overviewed. Articles in CE areas including water resources, structural, geotechnical, environmental, and traffic engineering are to be reviewed thoroughly. As a results, variety of application results show that HS can be effectively used as a tool for optimization problems in CE. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.