MULTI-COMPONENT TOPOLOGY SYNTHESIS FOR POWDER BED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

抄録

Topology optimization for additive manufacturing has been limited to designing parts smaller than the printer's build volume. To enable the design of structures larger than the printer's build volume, this paper presents a gradient-based multi-component topology synthesis for designing structures assembled from components made by powder bed additive manufacturing. The manufacturing constraints on the maximum allowable build volume (which is limited by the machine specification), the elimination of enclosed holes (which will trap un-melted powders inside), and the minimum printable feature size are modeled and incorporated in a gradient-based multi-component topology optimization framework. As a result, the manufacturability of each constituent component is satisfied. Numerical results of multi-component topology designs optimized for the minimum compliance subject to powder bed additive manufacturing constraints are presented. The resulting multi-component designs unlocked richer design space for early-stage topology exploration.