An Optimal Design Method in First Order Analysis : Topology Optimization Based on Beam and Panel Elements

Abstract

Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) has been widely accepted in many mechanical industries such as automotive industries. However, most mechanical designers, in fact, cannot utilize CAE applications by themselves because of the sophisticated operations and a huge amount of time for the analysis. Recently, the concept of a new CAE, First Order Analysis (FOA), has been proposed in order to overcome these problems. In this paper, we present the topology optimization method based on beam and panel elements for FOA. First, an approach to embody the concept of FOA is described. Next, a multi-objective optimization problem to deal with the multiple loading problem is formulated, and the optimization procedure is developed based on the ground structure approach and sequential convex programming. Finally, some examples are provided to confirm the optimization method proposed here.