Topology design with optimized, self-adaptive materials (original) (raw)

This article presents an approach to find a solution to the problem of optimization of continuum structures considering the stresses. The problem is solved by a topology optimization methodology, formulated as finding the best material distribution into the design domain. The design is accomplished by distributing a fictitious density in the domain. An artificial power-law material parameterization relates the density to the elastic properties. The domain is discretized into simpler subdivisions, which are used to define both the finite element approximation of the structural response and the density approximation, taken constant in each element. Sequential linear programming is used to accomplish the minimization.An adjoint sensitivity analysis is performed for the von Mises failure criteria. A first order neighborhood filter is implemented to minimize the effects of checkerboard pattern areas and mesh dependency. Results are presented and compared to the existing literature.