Topology optimization design of continuum structures under stress and displacement constraints (Q1576255)

Topology optimization of continuum structrures that can take into account stress and displacement constraints simultaneously is a difficult task at present. The main difficulty is due to the fact that explicit relations between topological variables and stress or displacement constraints cannot be obtained by using the homogenization method or variable density method. Furthermore, large quantities of design variables involved in the problems make it hard to apply the formal mathematical programming. In this paper, the authors present a smooth model of topology optimization for continuum structures which has weight objective function and treats stress and displacement constraints by using the continuous topological variable concept and mapping transformation method. Moreover, the authors give approximate explicit relations between topological variables and stress or displacement constraints. The problem is solved by employing the dual programming approach, and the proposed element deletion criterion is based on the inversion of topology variables from discrete to continuous. Numerical examples verify the validity of the proposed method.