Topology optimization of structures designed with multiphase materials: volume constraint or mass constraint?

Tong Gao, Weihong Zhang, Duysinx Pierre

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Instead of adopting the common idea of using volume constraint in topology optimization, this work is focused on the topology optimization of structures designed with multiphase materials and mass constraint. Related structural optimization models involving mass constraint and material interpolation model are proposed. Based on the study of two types of material interpolation models, i.e. GSIMP and UIM, the former is found to introduce the nonlinearity into the mass constraint which brings numerical difficulties in searching the global optimum of the optimization problem. The adopted UIM model, however, makes the mass constraint linear and design variable separable, which favors the mathematical programming approaches, especially the convex programming methods. Numerical examples show that the presented scheme is reliable and efficient to deal with the structural topology design problems of multiple materials with mass constraint. The mass constraint is proved to be more significant and important than the volume constraint in structural topology optimization.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)296-305
Number of pages10
JournalLixue Xuebao/Chinese Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
Volume43
Issue number2
StatePublished - Mar 2011

Keywords

  • Mass constraint
  • Multiphase materials
  • Structural topology optimization
  • Volume constraint

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