Topology Optimization With Selective Problem Setups

Abstract

Topology optimization has demonstrated its power in structural design under a variety of physical disciplines. Generally, a topology optimization problem is formulated with clearly-defined problem setup. Both design domain shape and boundary condition are clearly-defined during pre-processing. Optimization with multiple choices of design domains or boundary conditions have to be performed with multiple runs of the algorithm to make the best choice among the selective problem setups. The computational cost is proportional to the number of problem setup choices which can be inefficient if a large number of choices are involved. Therefore, to save the computational cost, a novel topology optimization method is developed to solve the design problem with selective problem setups. This method employs a novel meshing strategy and material interpolation model to unify the multiple problem setups into a single optimization problem. Therefore, the optimization algorithm only runs once to concurrently derive the optimal structural shape and the best problem setup choice in a very efficient manner. In addition, the problem formulation is simple. Only N more design variables are added to realize the interpolation among N + 1 problem setup choices, other than the density variables for structural topology description. A few numerical examples will be demonstrated to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Topology Optimization of Rotor Bars Geometry and Arrangement for a Line-Start Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine

“…For example, this approach has been applied to the optimization of the rotor geometry of a PMSM through utilizing a genetic algorithm in [26], and a combination of rotor core TO with identification of current phase angle was described in [27]. TO is not limited to electrical machine design but can be implemented for a huge variety of technical problems [22].…”

“…Nonetheless, the majority of previous works has dealt with LSPMSMs using the same predefined geometry for optimization based on the squirrel-cage bars adopted from classic IMs. Furthermore, no activities are reported that deal with topology optimization (TO) [22] for LSPMSM performance improvement. This is in contrast to PMSMs, where many such studies can be found, e.g.…”

Systematic development of load-path dependent FLM-FRP lightweight structures

“…This is only partly reflected in current optimization approaches. These target specific FLM optimization problems (Brackett, Ashcroft & Hague 2011;Liu et al 2018;Fu et al 2019). Dapogny et al (2019) derived geometry which is dependent on chosen infill raster.…”