Embedding engineering intuition into computational design through interactive topology optimization

With increasing pressure to generate low environmental impact designs, topology optimization presents a flexible, material efficient solution. Topology optimization is a computational design method that produces lightweight, high performing designs uniquely suited to a user’s objective function and constraints. However, there exist major obstacles to topology optimization’s widespread use, including increased complexity and computational time for advanced, nonlinear optimization formulations such as buckling or stress, lack of geometric control, and difficulty manufacturing. Interactive topology optimization algorithms overcome these obstacles by prompting users to directly modify the geometry of the design as the optimization runs. By embedding their engineering intuition into the design, users address concerns for complex failure modes, manufacturability, or alternative engineering performance metrics. This work presents two interactive approaches: HiTop 2.0 which empowers users to selectively enforce minimum and/or maximum solid and/or void feature size controls, and interactive infill topology optimization which incorporates user drawn infill patterns into regions of the optimized design. The interactive methods are demonstrated on numerical 2D examples, HiTop 2.0 is extended to a numerical 3D example, and interactive infill is experimentally validated with 2.5D additively manufactured test beams.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Schiffer, Gillian

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Carstensen, Josephine V.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
• Copyright retained by author(s)

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/156964

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/156964