Title: Sperm flagellum motility algorithm: a novel metaheuristic optimiser for solving optimisation problems

Authors: Imad El Karkri; Abdelghni Lakehal

Addresses: Department of Mathematics, Polydisciplinary Faculty, Larache Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Larache, Morocco ' Department of Mathematics, Polydisciplinary Faculty, Larache Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Larache, Morocco

Abstract: The challenges and intricacies associated with real-world numerical optimisation problems have significantly increased, necessitating the development of efficient optimisation methods. While numerous metaheuristic approaches have been proposed, only a select few have gained recognition within the research community. This paper introduces a novel metaheuristic algorithm known as the sperm flagellum motility algorithm (SFMA) to address optimisation problems. SFMA emulates the motility principle of a sperm flagellum immersed in a two-dimensional fluid. Representing a population of solutions, the sperm flagellum navigates the search space to discover an optimal solution for the given problem. To evaluate the effectiveness of SFMA, a suite of 23 benchmark functions and five engineering problems were solved and compared against the performance of other widely recognised optimisers. The optimisation results demonstrate that the SFMA is highly competitive when compared to both conventional methods and state-of-the-art meta-heuristic algorithms.

Keywords: sperm flagellum motility algorithm; SFMA; optimisation algorithm; benchmark functions; meta-heuristic algorithm; engineering problems.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOR.2026.155584

International Journal of Operational Research, 2026 Vol.56 No.3, pp.351 - 380

Received: 03 Jun 2023
Accepted: 23 Dec 2023
Published online: 06 Aug 2026 *

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