Topology Optimization Applications on Engineering Structures

Over the years, several optimization techniques were widely used to find the optimum shape and size of engineering structures (trusses, frames, etc.) under different constraints (stress, displacement, buckling instability, kinematic stability, and natural frequency). But, most of them require continuous data set where, on the other hand, topology optimization (TO) can handle also discrete ones. Topology optimization has also allowed radical changes in geometry which concludes better designs. So, many researchers have studied on topology optimization by developing/using different methodologies. This study aims to classify these studies considering used methods and present new emerging application areas. It is believed that researchers will easily find the related studies with their work

The asymptotic concentration approach combined with isogeometric analysis for topology optimization of two-dimensional linear elasticity structures

We propose an asymptotic concentration approach combined with isogeometric analysis (IGA) for the topology optimization of two-dimensional (2D) linear elasticity structures under the commonly-used framework of the solid isotropic materials and penalty (SIMP) model. Based on the SIMP framework, the B-splines are used as basis functions to describe geometric model in structural finite element analysis, which closely combines geometric modeling with structural analysis. Isogeometric analysis is utilized to define the geometric characteristics of the 2D linear elasticity structures, which can greatly improve the calculation accuracy. In addition, to eliminate the gray-scale intervals usually caused by the intermediate density in the SIMP approach, we utilize the asymptotic concentration method to concentrate the intermediate density values on either 0 or 1 gradually. Consequently, the intermediate densities representing gray-scale intervals in topology optimization results are sufficiently eliminated by virtue of the asymptotic concentration method. The effectiveness and applicability of the proposed method are illustrated by several typical examples