A multi-material proportional topology optimization approach for compliant mechanism problems (Q6162945)

The paper deals with the synthesis of multi-material compliant mechanisms in two spatial dimensions. The basic idea consists in maximizing the mutual strain energy of the mechanism by using the Proportional Topology Optimization (PTO) algorithm. In order to deal with multi-material optimization, the problem is decomposed into several two-phase sub-problems based on the alternating active phase algorithm. Finally, several benchmarks examples are presented, showing different features of the proposed approach. In particular, the PTO algorithm is compared with standard approach based on optimality criteria in terms of CPU time and resulting output displacement, showing that the proposed approach performs better than the standard one at least for the examples presented in the numerical section. At the end of the paper some extensions of the proposed approach are discussed, including the synthesis of compliant mechanisms under stress constraints. In this sense, the reader may refer to the paper by \textit{E. L. Cardoso} and \textit{A. J. Torii} [J. Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 45, Paper No. 503 (2023; \url{doi:10.1007/s40430-023-04422-4})], in which the authors explain why PTO is not effective in dealing with stress-based topology optimization problems.