A rank-based constraint handling technique for engineering design optimization problems solved by genetic algorithms

•A new rank-based CHT is presented for the solution of engineering optimization problems.•Builds multiple separate queues based on objective function and violation of each constraint.•Overcomes difficulties for constraints with different orders of magnitude and different units.•Easy to implement; without user-defined parameters; may be associated with any evolutionary algorithm.•Benchmark studies compare its performance with other well-known CHTs.•Results demonstrate its increased accuracy and robustness.