Embedding engineering intuition into computational design through interactive topology optimization

Abstract

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.