Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the usefulness of the optimum value search method using artificialife (AL) for optimization problems related to planning, design, construction and management in the fields of irrigation, drainage and reclamation as well as infrastructure development. This paper first explains the optimum value search method, then describes the results of the examination of its usefulness using numerical experiments. As one example of an optimization problem, the authors selected the minimum safety factor identification problem in slope stability analysis. The search effects of the AL-applied search method were compared with those obtained by other identification methods, such as the GA method and those using software sold on the market. Our results confirmed that the AL method we describe is far superior to GA method used to identify convergence features, including optimum value search effects. In particular, since the differences of operation parameters have little effect on the search results, the search method using AL is expected to be applicable to a wide range of optimization problems.
