TY - JOUR AU - Jallad, Abdul-Halim M. AB - Introduction The increasing demand for energy consumption around the world has promoted the depletion of conventional energy sources. Hence, the high energy demand has drawn attention to producing energy from unconventional sources. However, producing oil/gas from unconventional sources is not easier with conventional production methods. Now, with the advancement of technologies, such as directional/horizontal drilling, the production from unconventional sources has become possible with some unwanted challenges [1]. One of the major challenges in directional / horizontal drilling is wellbore trajectory design, which is associated with cost and safety [2]. Sometimes, directional/horizontal drilling needs high expenditure, which tends to increase the oil and gas price at the consumer level. Therefore, to minimize the oil/gas price, it is crucial to minimize the operational expenditure. In directional/horizontal drilling, one of the key ways to reducing operational expenditure is optimizing the wellbore trajectory [3]. Wellbore trajectory is the direction in which the wellbore is drilled. To reach a sub-surface target, there can be thousands of probable well paths. However, the success of directional drilling depends on choosing the best path, which can be only done by the optimization of wellbore trajectory. A wellbore trajectory can be optimized considering several parameters; among them, length, torque, energy, rate of penetration, separation factor is the most influential [4–9]. Some pieces of research optimized the wellbore trajectory by considering one parameter [7]. However, this single objective optimization could not be able to provide enough cost efficiency and safety to the wellbore. Therefore, to increase cost efficiency and safety, multi-objective optimization was introduced by several researchers [5, 10–13]. In multi-objective optimization, two or more parameters were considered for wellbore trajectory optimization. Each of these parameters is optimized considering several tuning variables such as azimuth angle, dogleg severity, inclination angle, and kick-off point. To optimize the above-mentioned parameters several algorithms were utilized with some drawbacks such as less exploitation capability, local optima trapping, nonuniformed distribution of non-dominated solutions, and disability of tracking isolated minima [11]. The researchers focused on metaheuristic algorithms due to the weakness of the traditional algorithms in the large search region [14, 15]. Among the metaheuristic algorithms, genetic algorithms (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), ant colony optimization (ACO), artificial bee colony optimization (ABC), harmony search (HS) were utilized for well trajectory optimization [2, 4, 16]. To improve the issues faced by the metaheuristic algorithms and to improve the efficiency, some hybrid algorithms, for example, hybrid cuckoo search optimization (HCSO), hybrid bat flight optimization (HBFO) were introduced [17–19]. Due to the hybridization, these algorithms showed some significant improvements in the exploration capabilities [11]. However, these improvements enabled the algorithms to provide better solutions but on the other side, those make the convergence speed slower. Therefore, still, improvement is indispensable for increasing the exploitation capabilities of these algorithms. In recent times, multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA), multi-objective cellular particle swarm optimization (MOCPSO), multi-objective cellular grey wolf optimization and particle swarm optimization (MOCGWOPSO) have been used for length, torque, and well-profile energy optimization [5, 10, 11]. However, MOGA and MOCPSO have faced exploitation related problems. On the other side, MOCGWOPSO provided excellent non-dominated solutions for length and torque, but it showed weakness in the case of well-profile energy optimization during multi-objective optimization. From the above discussion, it can be concluded that hybridization of any standard algorithms makes the algorithms more effective and efficient for wellbore trajectory optimization. Hence, this research focuses on the hybridization of the spotted hyena optimization (SHO) algorithm for wellbore trajectory optimization. SHO is a newly designed metaheuristic algorithm that is inspired by the hunting mechanism of the spotted hyenas [20, 21]. This algorithm has a very high convergence rate. Therefore, this algorithm faced local optima trapping issue during non-linear optimization. To overcome this issue herein cellular automata (CA) has been incorporated with SHO in this work [22]. CA is incorporated due to its slow diffusion mechanism and information exchanging capability among the neighbours. The slow diffusion mechanism helps to avoid the local optima trapping issue and the information exchanging capabilities enhance the local search capability of SHO. Besides, the velocity update mechanism of PSO has been incorporated to enhance the hunting capability of SHO. Moreover, an adaptive neighbourhood mechanism has been proposed and compared with the fixed neighbourhood topology structure such as L5, L9, C9, C13, C21, and C25 in this work. The performance analysis of the proposed algorithms for wellbore trajectory optimization has been done by comparing with the previously used MOCPSO and other states of the art algorithms such as MOSHO, MOCGWO [21, 23]. This comparative analysis has been conducted based on some statistical analysis. The proposed algorithm has achieved the lowest value of IGD, SP, ER. This indicates that the obtained Pareto front by the proposed algorithm is nearer to the true Pareto front, the non-dominated solutions are nearly spaced, and it has a very less number of isolated minima. The Spearman correlation coefficient test has also been performed to analyze the sensitivity of each decision variable on the three objectives [24]. This proposed algorithm will pave the way to design a less complex and cost-effective wellbore trajectory. Mathematical formulation Up to the date, several methods (radius of curvature method (RCM), tangential method, angle averaging method, minimum curvature method) were utilized for characterizing the directional well design parameters [25, 26]. In this work, the RCM method is used to formulate the three-objective functions [25, 27]. To compute the trajectory length, radius curvature method was utilized considering several parameters such as azimuth angle, hold angle, vertical inclination, lateral length, true vertical depth, and dogleg severity. The following formulas are used to compute the constant of curvature and radius of curvature between two points in RCM. (1)(2)(3) Herein, a and r represents the constant of curvature and radius of curvature, respectively. The dogleg severity, inclination angle, and azimuth angle are denoted by T, ∅i, and θi, respectively. ΔM is the 3D well path between two points. The general vertical plane for a wellbore trajectory with various straight and curved sections is depicted in Fig 1. Download: PPT PowerPoint slide PNG larger image TIFF original image Fig 1. An overview of the wellbore trajectory. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261427.g001 According to Fig 1, the TMD’s fundamental equation is composed of seven segments which are represented by Eq (4). (4) Where Dkop represents the estimated length of kick-of section, build and drop segments are represented by (D1, D3 and D5), tangent segment, hold segment and horizontal section are represented by (D2), (D4) and HD respectively. The torque and well-profile energy can be characterized by the following equations. (5)(6) In this work buoyancy factor B = 0.7, weight of unit pipe length w = 0.3KN/ft,friction factor u = 0.2 and pipe diameter D = 0.2ft have been used for the calculation. The detail description of mathematical formulation was demonstrated in our previous work [11]. Constraints The optimization of the wellbore trajectory is constrained in two ways: by operational constraints and by the upper and lower limits of 17 tuning variables. The tuning variables’ upper and lower limits are listed in Table 1. However, in this work the operational constraints are the true vertical depth (TVD), and the casing setting depth, C1, C2, C3. During the trajectory optimization, the following equation should also be satisfied. Download: PPT PowerPoint slide PNG larger image TIFF original image Table 1. Operational and variable’s constraints for wellbore trajectory design. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261427.t001(7) Herein, the vertical depth of each subsection at each drop off point is denoted by the symbol Yi∈(1,6). There are also some non-negative constraints [10]. Fig 2 illustrates the trajectory’s deviated direction to the east, north, and vertical sides. The offset distance in these three directions is derived following the radius of curvature method. Download: PPT PowerPoint slide PNG larger image TIFF original image Fig 2. Offset distance of a typical directional wellbore trajectory. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261427.g002(8)(9)(10) The above mentioned three Eqs (8–10), calculates the distance of east-west, north-south, and TVD. Another important constraint is the casing setting depth which has a direct impact on cost. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the following constraints during trajectory optimization. Constraints The optimization of the wellbore trajectory is constrained in two ways: by operational constraints and by the upper and lower limits of 17 tuning variables. The tuning variables’ upper and lower limits are listed in Table 1. However, in this work the operational constraints are the true vertical depth (TVD), and the casing setting depth, C1, C2, C3. During the trajectory optimization, the following equation should also be satisfied. Download: PPT PowerPoint slide PNG larger image TIFF original image Table 1. Operational and variable’s constraints for wellbore trajectory design. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261427.t001(7) Herein, the vertical depth of each subsection at each drop off point is denoted by the symbol Yi∈(1,6). There are also some non-negative constraints [10]. Fig 2 illustrates the trajectory’s deviated direction to the east, north, and vertical sides. The offset distance in these three directions is derived following the radius of curvature method. Download: PPT PowerPoint slide PNG larger image TIFF original image Fig 2. Offset distance of a typical directional wellbore trajectory. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261427.g002(8)(9)(10) The above mentioned three Eqs (8–10), calculates the distance of east-west, north-south, and TVD. Another important constraint is the casing setting depth which has a direct impact on cost. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the following constraints during trajectory optimization. Framework for wellbore trajectory optimization In this multi-objective optimization, the proposed hybrid algorithm needs to optimize length, torque, and well profile energy from Eqs (4–6). The algorithm needs to fine-tune all the 17 tuning variables for optimizing these three objectives parallelly. Table A1 in S1 Appendix tabulated the bounds and explanation of these variables. The overall multi-objective optimization process can be mathematically expressed as follows. (11) In the proposed algorithm diffusion mechanism of CA will be used to increase the exploration capability of SHO, later velocity update equation of PSO will be used. This will improve the hunting mechanism of SHO. Spotted hyena optimizer The mechanism of SHO will be discussed in this section. It is a recently proposed metaheuristic algorithm that was inspired by the hyena’s prey hunting mechanism [20, 21]. Usually, the SHO algorithm imitates the behaviours of a consistent hyena cluster. It consists of four main steps such as searching, encircling, hunting and attacking. The group of fellow peers is directing the hunting behaviour toward the best solution, and preserve the best results. The following equations are used to replicate the encircling interactions of spotted hyenas. (12)(13) Where define the distance to the prey from the spotted hyena, x represents the present iteration, and are the coefficient vectors, specifies the prey’s position vector, indicates the hyena’s position vector. Besides || and “.” respectively represent the absolute value and vector multiplication. The following formulas are used to calculate the vector and . (14)(15)(16) Where, Iteration = 1,2, 3,.. MaxIteration, In [0,1], vectors and are random. The search agent can explore different parts of the search space by adjusting the values of vectors and . On the other hand a hyena can adjust its position around its prey by applying Eqs (14–16). This algorithm stores the best solutions and compels others to upgrade their positions. When the value becomes then the algorithm enables the hyenas to attack the target. The following equations are defined to replicate the hunting behaviour of hyenas and to identify the feasible search space regions. (17)(18)(19) Where denotes the first best-spotted hyena’s position, defines the specific location of other search agents. The number of spotted hyenas is represented by N which is calculated as follows: (20) Where is a random vector in [0.5,1], nos denotes the number of solutions after is added However in a certain search space these solutions are almost the same as the best optimum solutions. Moreover is a group of N number of optimal solutions. Exploitation. Like every algorithm SHO also has to perform exploration and exploitation. During exploitation, the value of gradually decreases from 5 to 0. The variations in also contribute to exploitation. The algorithm allows the hyenas to attack the prey when it becomes . The formulation can be expressed as follows: (21) Where registers the best position and helps the search agent to update their position according to the best search agent. It permits all of its search agents to attack the prey. Exploration. The hyenas of vector mostly guide the exploration process. During exploration, the value of become or . It generally controls the hyenas for global search. The value of forces agents to deviate from optimal solutions, hence expanding the scope of exploration and local optima avoidance. Another important contributor is the vector which provides random values to the prey in the range of [0.5,1]. Search agents use Eqs (19–21) during optimization to create a cluster towards the best search agent to upgrade their positions. Meanwhile, during iterations, parameters h and reduce linearly. Finally, when the termination condition is matched, the positions of search agents which create a cluster are considered as the optimal solutions. Archive. In multi-objective optimization, the stock of all Pareto optimal solutions (those that have been obtained so far) is defined as an archive. It is comprised of two major components: an archive controller and a grid system. Archive controller. The primary responsibility of this controller is to determine whether or not to include the solution in the archive. The following are some of the most important points to note about the updating mechanism: If any single member of the archive dominates it, the solution cannot be included. If a new solution is superior to one or more solutions in the archive, it can be incorporated. If the new solution and archive solutions do not have any dominance over each other, the new member should be incorporated in the archive. The grid method should be used so that one of the crowded solution sections can remove. This will allow to include a new solution that will enhance Pareto’s optimal diversity. Grid mechanism. Grid is a space in which each particle obtains a unique solution to its objective function. An adaptive grid can be considered of as a hypercubic space with a uniform distribution of elements. If the inserted individual is outside the grid’s current bounds, the grid must be reconfigured. The grid mechanism divides the search space into multiple sub-search zones. Group selection mechanism. The challenge of comparing the solutions with archive members in a multi-objective search area is very complex. This process has been performed in this study through the use of a group selection mechanism. The mechanism determines the least populated area inside the solution region. Later in the chapter, it suggests one of the non-dominated solutions from the least populated region to the closest neighbour region. The roulette-wheel method was employed to assist in determining the least-populated area [28]. This method can be defined as (22) where e stands for a constant number (e>1), the total number of Pareto optimal solutions achieved from the nth segment till now is represented by S, n is the number of segments This is a proportionate selection strategy. According to this method, every individual’s fitness value is almost correlated to the range offered by the roulette wheel proportion. is the deciding vector in MOSHO, and it is directly proportional to the number of optimal solution selections. The archive protects the obtained non-dominated solutions against degradation. The conventional algorithm, which is based on the archive, employs a variety of operators (mutation, crossover), which compelled the algorithm to focus more on the archive member. As a result, the variables in MOSHO exchange information with the various solutions in the search space. This enhances the capability for exploration but reduces the capability for convergence. That is why a group selection mechanism has been used to select a minimum of one member from the solution space. Cellular automata. The concept of cellular automata has been described in this section. Von Neumann and Ulam first published the concept of CA [11, 22]. It can be characterized as a distribution of cells excreted in a particular topological structure. They are the cell, the cell state, the cell space, the neighbourhood, and the transition rule [29]. The next status of each cell will be determined by considering the present state of all the neighbouring cells. CA is composed of five components. They are cell, cell state, cell space, neighbourhood, and transition rule [30]. The cell state is a term that refers to the information about the present cell. It assists in determining the next state. Cell space is a collection of cell sets. It has applications in multiple dimensions (one, two, and three). However, because real-world processes are mostly reproduced using finite grids, the cell space boundary must be defined during operation. The limit is a ring grid. That is, the left border will remain connected to the right, and the top border will remain connected to the bottom border. The neighbourhood can be described as a group of cells that surround a centre cell. It is primarily responsible for selecting the following state. The transition rule determines the cell’s next state based on the status of neighbouring cells. The formulation of CA can be characterized as follows. Usually, an m-dimensional CA can be characterized as a grid of m-dimensional single cells. Each cell has its own value. According to the transition rule, each cell can update its state. Therefore, Q is a cellular automaton that can be formulated as Eq (23). (23) Where, The finite set of state :T Dimension of Q :d ∈ Z + Neighborhood :H Transition rule :g Let’s take i ∈ Zm is the position of a cell where m is the dimension of the latticegrid, then the neighbourhood H can be formulated as (24) Where neighbourhood size is represented by n, a fixed vector from the search space of m-dimension is represented by rj. Neighbourhood. The term neighbourhood refers to a group of cells that surround a central cell. Additionally, the neighbours can be defined as the other atoms connected by a single atom. The following definitions are provided to illustrate the precise composition of various neighbours. This work defines the grid’s neighbours based on their direction and radius. It is frequently referred to by two structural labels. They are Ln and Cn. If there are n—1 nearest neighbour around the centre cell which are specific in direction, then the structure can be denoted by Ln or Cn. If the directions of neighbouring cells are at the top, bottom, left, and right then it will be denoted by Ln. If on the other hand, the directions are at the top, bottom, left, right, and diagonal then it will be denoted by Cn. Six distinct forms of classical structure were analysed in this study to determine the effect of neighbourhood structure. These structures are represented in Fig 3 as (L5, L9, C9, C13, C21, and C25). Download: PPT PowerPoint slide PNG larger image TIFF original image Fig 3. Different types of neighbourhood structure. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261427.g003 Transition rule. It is a set of rules that govern how each atom changes state. The next state of the current atom is decided by evaluating the status of neighbouring atoms. Let us take the best position of the neighbor Mi around an atom as . The neighbour with the highest fitness value will be used to facilitate information diffusion and effectiveness. The transition rule can be defined as (25) where the present value of Mi is represented by . Therefore neighbour with the best fitness value from the CA structure can be obtained by using Eq (25). Later it will be used to update the state of the centre cell. Particle swarm optimization It is an evolutionary algorithm inspired by the behaviour of a bird’s flock [31]. It offers a number of advantages, including a low mathematical complexity, a high capability for optimization, and easy implementation. PSO is comprised of two distinct processes. Birds carry out both processes. Initially, the bird will conduct a random search for the food source that is the closest to it. Later on, it will utilise its flying experience to determine the location of the meal. The shift in position has been referred to as velocity, and it varies with the passage of time. During the flight, particle speed increased stochastically towards its best point (personal best) and the community’s best solution (global best) [32]. The candidate solution, which is represented by a particle, is a bird. In addition, food acts as a representation of the best possible solution to the problem. In this work ith particle is considered as Xi = Xi1, Xi2, Xi3….Xid, and vi = vi1, vi2, vi3….vid represent the velocity of each particle. With their initial velocity each particle start searching in the search space, where pi = pi1, pi2, pi3….pid represent the personal best position of each particle and pg = pg1, pg2, pg3….pgd represent the global best position of each particle. In PSO each particle updates its velocity and position by using the following equations (26) (27) Here c1 and c2 are acceleration coefficient which mostly controls the exploration and exploitation capability of the algorithm, inertia weight is represented by w, r1 and r2, both represent the random numbers [0,1]. The fitness value is the determinant to analyse the quality of the best particle. The particle which has the best fitness value is taken as the global best solution [33]. Proposed hybrid algorithm The framework of the proposed algorithm, as well as the improvement approach, have been discussed in detail in this section. Framework of the MOCSHOPSO algorithm. The purpose of this research is to improve the performance of SHO by utilizing different techniques from CA and PSO for wellbore trajectory optimization problems. One crucial strategy is CA which is utilized to improve the performance of the SHO-PSO. The following three advantages have motivated to implement the hybridization strategy. The local search capability can be enhanced with the assistance of CA, as it enhances exploitation capability through interaction with its neighbours. However, the process of information transmission aids in exploration. As a result of the candidates’ consequent solutions being attracted to the good SHO solutions, the SHO’s convergence speed is quite fast, resulting in a local optima trap. The slow diffusion mechanism of CA in conjunction with SHO will aid SHO in avoiding the local optima trap. The velocity update mechanism of PSO will be utilized to improve the hunting mechanism of SHO. The velocity component of PSO is frequently managed by multiplying the particle’s velocity by a factor. This regulation of velocity is intended to strike a balance between exploration and exploitation. This programme generates semi-random populations of spotted hyenas. They are distributed in an n-dimensional lattice grid. The operational constraints are managed during the initialization of the agent’s positions in the manner that has been proposed. The wellbore trajectory tuning variables x j are then initialised at random, but in a constrained environment, to get the desired results. If the initial positions satisfy the operational and non-negative constraints, they are accepted without further consideration. The values of the first tuning variable will be less chaotic and semi-randomly created as a result of this method. Then, in terms of wellbore trajectory optimization, the fitness value of each population is computed. Following that, it begins its update loop. It utilises the CA principle to create a new neighbourhood. During the neighbourhood generation process, some neighbours overlap. It enables the algorithm to incorporate an implicit migration mechanism. Additionally, it aids in the seamless diffusion of the best solutions throughout the population. As a result, it can retain a greater degree of diversity than the original SHO. Soft diffusion is critical in maintaining a balance between exploration and exploitation. The entire search space is divided into several sub-search regions by this approach. As a result, they can update the operation separately. However, if the neighbours overlap in this situation, information is transferred on an ad hoc basis. However, the hunting mechanism of SHO has been modified by using the velocity update mechanism of PSO [34]. Therefore Eq (18) can be expressed as follows. (28) The updated hunting mechanism will be used by the proposed algorithm The pseudocode of the proposed algorithm has been expressed as follows. MOCSHOPSO Input: Spotted hyena population, Output: Best search agent 1: Initialize the population of spotted hyena 2: Initialize h,A,F,N parameters 3: Evaluate Spotted hyena population 4: Select Qh = best first search agent 5: Select Dh = Cluster of all obtained solution 6: while iteration number < maximum iteration number 7: for i← 1 spotted hyena population 8: Create neighbors 9: Update the position of hyena 10: Update (h,A,F,N) 11: Evaluate spotted hyena’s new position 12: if new position outperforms 13: Replace the current hyena 14: end if 15: evaluation number ++ 16: end for 17: end while 16: while iteration1), the total number of Pareto optimal solutions achieved from the nth segment till now is represented by S, n is the number of segments This is a proportionate selection strategy. According to this method, every individual’s fitness value is almost correlated to the range offered by the roulette wheel proportion. is the deciding vector in MOSHO, and it is directly proportional to the number of optimal solution selections. The archive protects the obtained non-dominated solutions against degradation. The conventional algorithm, which is based on the archive, employs a variety of operators (mutation, crossover), which compelled the algorithm to focus more on the archive member. As a result, the variables in MOSHO exchange information with the various solutions in the search space. This enhances the capability for exploration but reduces the capability for convergence. That is why a group selection mechanism has been used to select a minimum of one member from the solution space. Cellular automata. The concept of cellular automata has been described in this section. Von Neumann and Ulam first published the concept of CA [11, 22]. It can be characterized as a distribution of cells excreted in a particular topological structure. They are the cell, the cell state, the cell space, the neighbourhood, and the transition rule [29]. The next status of each cell will be determined by considering the present state of all the neighbouring cells. CA is composed of five components. They are cell, cell state, cell space, neighbourhood, and transition rule [30]. The cell state is a term that refers to the information about the present cell. It assists in determining the next state. Cell space is a collection of cell sets. It has applications in multiple dimensions (one, two, and three). However, because real-world processes are mostly reproduced using finite grids, the cell space boundary must be defined during operation. The limit is a ring grid. That is, the left border will remain connected to the right, and the top border will remain connected to the bottom border. The neighbourhood can be described as a group of cells that surround a centre cell. It is primarily responsible for selecting the following state. The transition rule determines the cell’s next state based on the status of neighbouring cells. The formulation of CA can be characterized as follows. Usually, an m-dimensional CA can be characterized as a grid of m-dimensional single cells. Each cell has its own value. According to the transition rule, each cell can update its state. Therefore, Q is a cellular automaton that can be formulated as Eq (23). (23) Where, The finite set of state :T Dimension of Q :d ∈ Z + Neighborhood :H Transition rule :g Let’s take i ∈ Zm is the position of a cell where m is the dimension of the latticegrid, then the neighbourhood H can be formulated as (24) Where neighbourhood size is represented by n, a fixed vector from the search space of m-dimension is represented by rj. Neighbourhood. The term neighbourhood refers to a group of cells that surround a central cell. Additionally, the neighbours can be defined as the other atoms connected by a single atom. The following definitions are provided to illustrate the precise composition of various neighbours. This work defines the grid’s neighbours based on their direction and radius. It is frequently referred to by two structural labels. They are Ln and Cn. If there are n—1 nearest neighbour around the centre cell which are specific in direction, then the structure can be denoted by Ln or Cn. If the directions of neighbouring cells are at the top, bottom, left, and right then it will be denoted by Ln. If on the other hand, the directions are at the top, bottom, left, right, and diagonal then it will be denoted by Cn. Six distinct forms of classical structure were analysed in this study to determine the effect of neighbourhood structure. These structures are represented in Fig 3 as (L5, L9, C9, C13, C21, and C25). Download: PPT PowerPoint slide PNG larger image TIFF original image Fig 3. Different types of neighbourhood structure. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261427.g003 Transition rule. It is a set of rules that govern how each atom changes state. The next state of the current atom is decided by evaluating the status of neighbouring atoms. Let us take the best position of the neighbor Mi around an atom as . The neighbour with the highest fitness value will be used to facilitate information diffusion and effectiveness. The transition rule can be defined as (25) where the present value of Mi is represented by . Therefore neighbour with the best fitness value from the CA structure can be obtained by using Eq (25). Later it will be used to update the state of the centre cell. Exploitation. Like every algorithm SHO also has to perform exploration and exploitation. During exploitation, the value of gradually decreases from 5 to 0. The variations in also contribute to exploitation. The algorithm allows the hyenas to attack the prey when it becomes . The formulation can be expressed as follows: (21) Where registers the best position and helps the search agent to update their position according to the best search agent. It permits all of its search agents to attack the prey. Exploration. The hyenas of vector mostly guide the exploration process. During exploration, the value of become or . It generally controls the hyenas for global search. The value of forces agents to deviate from optimal solutions, hence expanding the scope of exploration and local optima avoidance. Another important contributor is the vector which provides random values to the prey in the range of [0.5,1]. Search agents use Eqs (19–21) during optimization to create a cluster towards the best search agent to upgrade their positions. Meanwhile, during iterations, parameters h and reduce linearly. Finally, when the termination condition is matched, the positions of search agents which create a cluster are considered as the optimal solutions. Archive. In multi-objective optimization, the stock of all Pareto optimal solutions (those that have been obtained so far) is defined as an archive. It is comprised of two major components: an archive controller and a grid system. Archive controller. The primary responsibility of this controller is to determine whether or not to include the solution in the archive. The following are some of the most important points to note about the updating mechanism: If any single member of the archive dominates it, the solution cannot be included. If a new solution is superior to one or more solutions in the archive, it can be incorporated. If the new solution and archive solutions do not have any dominance over each other, the new member should be incorporated in the archive. The grid method should be used so that one of the crowded solution sections can remove. This will allow to include a new solution that will enhance Pareto’s optimal diversity. Grid mechanism. Grid is a space in which each particle obtains a unique solution to its objective function. An adaptive grid can be considered of as a hypercubic space with a uniform distribution of elements. If the inserted individual is outside the grid’s current bounds, the grid must be reconfigured. The grid mechanism divides the search space into multiple sub-search zones. Group selection mechanism. The challenge of comparing the solutions with archive members in a multi-objective search area is very complex. This process has been performed in this study through the use of a group selection mechanism. The mechanism determines the least populated area inside the solution region. Later in the chapter, it suggests one of the non-dominated solutions from the least populated region to the closest neighbour region. The roulette-wheel method was employed to assist in determining the least-populated area [28]. This method can be defined as (22) where e stands for a constant number (e>1), the total number of Pareto optimal solutions achieved from the nth segment till now is represented by S, n is the number of segments This is a proportionate selection strategy. According to this method, every individual’s fitness value is almost correlated to the range offered by the roulette wheel proportion. is the deciding vector in MOSHO, and it is directly proportional to the number of optimal solution selections. The archive protects the obtained non-dominated solutions against degradation. The conventional algorithm, which is based on the archive, employs a variety of operators (mutation, crossover), which compelled the algorithm to focus more on the archive member. As a result, the variables in MOSHO exchange information with the various solutions in the search space. This enhances the capability for exploration but reduces the capability for convergence. That is why a group selection mechanism has been used to select a minimum of one member from the solution space. Cellular automata. The concept of cellular automata has been described in this section. Von Neumann and Ulam first published the concept of CA [11, 22]. It can be characterized as a distribution of cells excreted in a particular topological structure. They are the cell, the cell state, the cell space, the neighbourhood, and the transition rule [29]. The next status of each cell will be determined by considering the present state of all the neighbouring cells. CA is composed of five components. They are cell, cell state, cell space, neighbourhood, and transition rule [30]. The cell state is a term that refers to the information about the present cell. It assists in determining the next state. Cell space is a collection of cell sets. It has applications in multiple dimensions (one, two, and three). However, because real-world processes are mostly reproduced using finite grids, the cell space boundary must be defined during operation. The limit is a ring grid. That is, the left border will remain connected to the right, and the top border will remain connected to the bottom border. The neighbourhood can be described as a group of cells that surround a centre cell. It is primarily responsible for selecting the following state. The transition rule determines the cell’s next state based on the status of neighbouring cells. The formulation of CA can be characterized as follows. Usually, an m-dimensional CA can be characterized as a grid of m-dimensional single cells. Each cell has its own value. According to the transition rule, each cell can update its state. Therefore, Q is a cellular automaton that can be formulated as Eq (23). (23) Where, The finite set of state :T Dimension of Q :d ∈ Z + Neighborhood :H Transition rule :g Let’s take i ∈ Zm is the position of a cell where m is the dimension of the latticegrid, then the neighbourhood H can be formulated as (24) Where neighbourhood size is represented by n, a fixed vector from the search space of m-dimension is represented by rj. Neighbourhood. The term neighbourhood refers to a group of cells that surround a central cell. Additionally, the neighbours can be defined as the other atoms connected by a single atom. The following definitions are provided to illustrate the precise composition of various neighbours. This work defines the grid’s neighbours based on their direction and radius. It is frequently referred to by two structural labels. They are Ln and Cn. If there are n—1 nearest neighbour around the centre cell which are specific in direction, then the structure can be denoted by Ln or Cn. If the directions of neighbouring cells are at the top, bottom, left, and right then it will be denoted by Ln. If on the other hand, the directions are at the top, bottom, left, right, and diagonal then it will be denoted by Cn. Six distinct forms of classical structure were analysed in this study to determine the effect of neighbourhood structure. These structures are represented in Fig 3 as (L5, L9, C9, C13, C21, and C25). Download: PPT PowerPoint slide PNG larger image TIFF original image Fig 3. Different types of neighbourhood structure. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261427.g003 Transition rule. It is a set of rules that govern how each atom changes state. The next state of the current atom is decided by evaluating the status of neighbouring atoms. Let us take the best position of the neighbor Mi around an atom as . The neighbour with the highest fitness value will be used to facilitate information diffusion and effectiveness. The transition rule can be defined as (25) where the present value of Mi is represented by . Therefore neighbour with the best fitness value from the CA structure can be obtained by using Eq (25). Later it will be used to update the state of the centre cell. Particle swarm optimization It is an evolutionary algorithm inspired by the behaviour of a bird’s flock [31]. It offers a number of advantages, including a low mathematical complexity, a high capability for optimization, and easy implementation. PSO is comprised of two distinct processes. Birds carry out both processes. Initially, the bird will conduct a random search for the food source that is the closest to it. Later on, it will utilise its flying experience to determine the location of the meal. The shift in position has been referred to as velocity, and it varies with the passage of time. During the flight, particle speed increased stochastically towards its best point (personal best) and the community’s best solution (global best) [32]. The candidate solution, which is represented by a particle, is a bird. In addition, food acts as a representation of the best possible solution to the problem. In this work ith particle is considered as Xi = Xi1, Xi2, Xi3….Xid, and vi = vi1, vi2, vi3….vid represent the velocity of each particle. With their initial velocity each particle start searching in the search space, where pi = pi1, pi2, pi3….pid represent the personal best position of each particle and pg = pg1, pg2, pg3….pgd represent the global best position of each particle. In PSO each particle updates its velocity and position by using the following equations (26) (27) Here c1 and c2 are acceleration coefficient which mostly controls the exploration and exploitation capability of the algorithm, inertia weight is represented by w, r1 and r2, both represent the random numbers [0,1]. The fitness value is the determinant to analyse the quality of the best particle. The particle which has the best fitness value is taken as the global best solution [33]. Proposed hybrid algorithm The framework of the proposed algorithm, as well as the improvement approach, have been discussed in detail in this section. Framework of the MOCSHOPSO algorithm. The purpose of this research is to improve the performance of SHO by utilizing different techniques from CA and PSO for wellbore trajectory optimization problems. One crucial strategy is CA which is utilized to improve the performance of the SHO-PSO. The following three advantages have motivated to implement the hybridization strategy. The local search capability can be enhanced with the assistance of CA, as it enhances exploitation capability through interaction with its neighbours. However, the process of information transmission aids in exploration. As a result of the candidates’ consequent solutions being attracted to the good SHO solutions, the SHO’s convergence speed is quite fast, resulting in a local optima trap. The slow diffusion mechanism of CA in conjunction with SHO will aid SHO in avoiding the local optima trap. The velocity update mechanism of PSO will be utilized to improve the hunting mechanism of SHO. The velocity component of PSO is frequently managed by multiplying the particle’s velocity by a factor. This regulation of velocity is intended to strike a balance between exploration and exploitation. This programme generates semi-random populations of spotted hyenas. They are distributed in an n-dimensional lattice grid. The operational constraints are managed during the initialization of the agent’s positions in the manner that has been proposed. The wellbore trajectory tuning variables x j are then initialised at random, but in a constrained environment, to get the desired results. If the initial positions satisfy the operational and non-negative constraints, they are accepted without further consideration. The values of the first tuning variable will be less chaotic and semi-randomly created as a result of this method. Then, in terms of wellbore trajectory optimization, the fitness value of each population is computed. Following that, it begins its update loop. It utilises the CA principle to create a new neighbourhood. During the neighbourhood generation process, some neighbours overlap. It enables the algorithm to incorporate an implicit migration mechanism. Additionally, it aids in the seamless diffusion of the best solutions throughout the population. As a result, it can retain a greater degree of diversity than the original SHO. Soft diffusion is critical in maintaining a balance between exploration and exploitation. The entire search space is divided into several sub-search regions by this approach. As a result, they can update the operation separately. However, if the neighbours overlap in this situation, information is transferred on an ad hoc basis. However, the hunting mechanism of SHO has been modified by using the velocity update mechanism of PSO [34]. Therefore Eq (18) can be expressed as follows. (28) The updated hunting mechanism will be used by the proposed algorithm The pseudocode of the proposed algorithm has been expressed as follows. MOCSHOPSO Input: Spotted hyena population, Output: Best search agent 1: Initialize the population of spotted hyena 2: Initialize h,A,F,N parameters 3: Evaluate Spotted hyena population 4: Select Qh = best first search agent 5: Select Dh = Cluster of all obtained solution 6: while iteration number < maximum iteration number 7: for i← 1 spotted hyena population 8: Create neighbors 9: Update the position of hyena 10: Update (h,A,F,N) 11: Evaluate spotted hyena’s new position 12: if new position outperforms 13: Replace the current hyena 14: end if 15: evaluation number ++ 16: end for 17: end while 16: while iteration