Application of dual kriging to structural shape optimization based on the boundary contour method (Q1286846)

The paper presents an approach in which the coupling of dual kriging and the boundary contour method (BCM) is applied to structural shape problems in mechanical engineering design. The problem is to optimize the shape of an elastic body, which requires minimizing an objective function subject to some given constraints, such as constraints imposed on displacement, stress or manufacturing. The originality of the work consists in the use of two novel methods that are combined to solve structural shape optimization problems. The first one, called dual kriging, is a general, versatile interpolation and geometric modelling tool. The second one is a new variant of the boundary element method (BCM), which provides a further reduction in the dimensionality of the problem. Based on the advantages of these two methods, the coupling approach presented here is expected to solve shape optimal design problems in an effective and straightforward manner.