Water Flow Optimization Algorithm: A Nature-Inspired Metaheuristic Based on Plant Water Transport Mechanisms
Abstract
In this work we present the Water Flow
Optimization Algorithm (WFOA), a nature-inspired
metaheuristic based on the transport of water in plants
driven by transpiration, cohesion–tension and water
potential gradients. WFOA models the “flow” of solutions
from roots to leaves through a simple transport process
in which an adaptive flow equation moves candidate
solutions toward promising regions, while random
perturbations and boundary handling keep the
population diverse. To analyze its behavior, we tested WFOA on 36
classical benchmark functions with several dimensionalities (30, 50, and 100 variables). Each problem was run 30 times independently under a fixed evaluation budget. Performance was evaluated in terms
of accuracy, convergence speed and robustness
(dispersion of the final results) and compared with
representative population-based optimizers from the
literature by means of non-parametric statistical tests
and 95% confidence intervals.
Optimization Algorithm (WFOA), a nature-inspired
metaheuristic based on the transport of water in plants
driven by transpiration, cohesion–tension and water
potential gradients. WFOA models the “flow” of solutions
from roots to leaves through a simple transport process
in which an adaptive flow equation moves candidate
solutions toward promising regions, while random
perturbations and boundary handling keep the
population diverse. To analyze its behavior, we tested WFOA on 36
classical benchmark functions with several dimensionalities (30, 50, and 100 variables). Each problem was run 30 times independently under a fixed evaluation budget. Performance was evaluated in terms
of accuracy, convergence speed and robustness
(dispersion of the final results) and compared with
representative population-based optimizers from the
literature by means of non-parametric statistical tests
and 95% confidence intervals.
Keywords
Classical benchmark functions, cohesion tension theory, continuous black-box optimization, fuzzy logic metaheuristics empirical have many applications. systems, plant hydraulics