Tareq Hamadneh, Belal Batiha, Gharib Mousa Gharib, Zeinab Montazeri, Mohammad Dehghani, Widi Aribowo, Enas Abdalhussein, Riyadh Kareem Jawad, Asaad Abdul Malik Madhloom AL-Salih, Mahmood Anees Ahmed, Ibraheem Kasim Ibraheem, Kei Eguchi
In this paper, the Candle Flame Optimization (CFO) algorithm is developed as a novel physics-based metaheuristic inspired by the dynamic behavior of a candle flame. CFO models the oscillatory and propagative nature of flames to balance exploration and exploitation in the search space. A rigorous mathematical formulation is constructed to accurately map the abstract concept of flame propagation into an optimization framework, ensuring an efficient search mechanism. The algorithm’s performance is evaluated using 29 benchmark functions from the CEC 2017 test suite, providing a comprehensive assessment of its effectiveness. Experimental results show that CFO delivers superior optimization capabilities in terms of convergence speed, solution accuracy, and robustness. The algorithm is compared against nine state-of-the-art metaheuristic algorithms, with statistical analyses confirming CFO’s significant superiority in most cases. The Wilcoxon Rank Sum test further verifies its statistical dominance. These findings indicate that CFO is an effective and efficient optimization algorithm suitable for various optimization applications across different scientific disciplines. © (2025), (Intelligent Network and Systems Society). All rights reserved.
Department of Mathematics, Al Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, 11733, Jordan; Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 330127, Zarqa, 13133, Jordan; Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Zarqa University, Zarqa, Zarqa, 13110, Jordan; Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Shiraz University of Technology, Shiraz, 7155713876, Iran; Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Vocational Studies, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, East Java, Surabaya, 60231, Indonesia; Department of Cybersecurity and Cloud computing, Technical Engineering, Uruk University, Baghdad, 10001, Iraq; Department of Medical Instrumentations Techniques Engineering, Al-Rasheed University College, Baghdad, 10001, Iraq; Department of Computer Engineering Techniques, Al-Nukhba University College, Baghdad, 10013, Iraq; Department Medical Instrumentation Techniques Engineering, College of medical techniques, Al-Farahidi University, Baghdad, 10001, Iraq; Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, 10001, Iraq; Department of Information Electronics, Fukuoka Institute of Technology, Japan
