Multiteam Competitive Optimization Algorithm and Its Application in Bearing Fault Diagnosis

A novel multiteam competitive optimization (MTCO) algorithm has been proposed to diagnose the fault patterns of bearings. This algorithm is inspired by competitive behaviors of multiple teams. It is a three-level organization structure; thus, more potential optimal areas can be searched. By imitating human thinking, such as the betrayal and replacement behavior along with the introduction of an acceptable vector, new strategies within the MTCO are designed to increase the diversity and guide jumping out of location suboptimal areas. In addition to this, a kernel function has been introduced to reduce the recognition errors caused by data which are nonlinearly distributed in original space. The obtained experimental results demonstrate that the proposed MTCO is globally stable and optimal decision performance. After that the MTCO is applied for the fault diagnosis of bearings, and it has also been compared with other commonly used methods. The comparison indicates that the proposed algorithm has higher recognition accuracy.