Basic Study for Topology Optimization Considering Thermal Stresses

Abstract

The present study addresses thermoelastic topology optimization of a minimum compliance problem. It is well-known that the thermal loading depends on the material stiffness coefficient and the thermal expansion coefficient; this causes physically unrealistic situation if both coefficients are regularized in a conventional interpolation scheme. This study applies a specific regularization, so-called the thermal stress coefficient to avoid the problem. This approach is examined by a series of numerical examples for porous and composite materials.