Abstract: Over the last two decades, stochastic optimization algorithms have proved to be a very promising approach to solving a variety of complex optimization problems. Bald eagle search optimization (BES) as a new stochastic optimization algorithm with fast convergence speed has the ability of prominent optimization and the defect of collapsing in the local best. To avoid BES collapse at local optima, inspired by the fact that the volume of the sphere is the largest when the surface area is certain, an improved bald eagle search optimization algorithm (INMBES) integrating the random shrinkage mechanism of the sphere is proposed. Firstly, the INMBES embeds spherical coordinates to design a more accurate parameter update method to modify the coverage and dispersion of the population. Secondly, the population splits into elite and non-elite groups and the Bernoulli chaos is applied to elite group to tap around potential solutions of the INMBES. The non-elite group is redistributed again and the Nelder-Mead simplex strategy is applied to each group to accelerate the evolution of the worst individual and the convergence process of the INMBES. The results of Friedman and Wilcoxon rank sum tests of CEC2017 in 10, 30, 50, and 100 dimensions numerical optimization confrm that the INMBES has superior performance in convergence accuracy and avoiding falling into local optimization compared with other potential improved algorithms but inferior to the champion algorithm and ranking third. The three engineering constraint optimization problems and 26 real world problems and the problem of extracting the best feature subset by encapsulated feature selection method verify that the INMBES’s performance ranks frst and has achieved satisfactory accuracy in solving practical problems.

Key words: Bald eagle search optimization algorithm , · Spherical coordinates , · Chaotic variation , · Simplex method , · Encapsulated feature selection