en Optimal design Optimal design پژوهشي Research <span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span style="text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">The VPS-SRM algorithm is an enhanced metaheuristic approach developed for structural optimization. While it demonstrates robust performance in structural design, its efficiency remains subject to improvement, especially when dealing with large-scale structural optimization problems. To address this, the present study introduces improved versions of the VPS-SRM by incorporating chaotic maps. The performance of these chaotic-based variants was evaluated through the optimization of large-scale structural problems, including a 3-bay 15-story frame, 520-bar double-layer grid, and 800-bar double-layer grid. The results indicate that the chaotic versions significantly outperform the original algorithm, providing superior structural designs with higher precision and enhanced statistical results. Statistical analysis via the Kruskal-Wallis test further confirms that the chaotic variants offer a substantial improvement over the standard VPS-SRM.</span></span></span> Metaheuristic, Optimization, VPS, Chaotic maps, Large-scale structures 145 163 http://ijoce.iust.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-6463-50&slc_lang=en&sid=1 A. Zaerreza ataollah_zaerreza@abru.ac.ir 180031947532846002911 180031947532846002911 Yes Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ayatollah Boroujerdi University, Boroujerd, Iran P. Hassanvand 180031947532846002912 180031947532846002912 No Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ayatollah Boroujerdi University, Boroujerd, Iran S. R. Nabavian 180031947532846002913 180031947532846002913 No Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ayatollah Boroujerdi University, Boroujerd, Iran