• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.75-92
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• 2015

In this paper, optimization of cylindrical shells under external pressure to minimize its weight has been studied. Buckling equations are based on standard of ABS underwater vehicles. Dimension and type of circumferential stiffeners, and its distance from each other are assumed as variables of optimization problem. Considering the extent of these variables, genetic algorithms have been used for optimization. To study the effect of hydrostatic pressure on the shell and its fabrication according to the existing standards, geometrical and construction as well as stress and buckling constraints have been used in optimization algorithm and also penalty functions are applied to eliminate weak model. Finally, the best model which has the minimum weight considering the applied pressure has been presented.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제13권3호
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• pp.207-223
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• 2012

This paper deals with critical thermal buckling load optimization of symmetrically laminated four layered angle-ply plates with one or two different intermediate line supports. The design objective is the maximization of the critical thermal buckling load and a design variable is the fibre orientation in the layers. The first order shear deformation theory and nine-node isoparametric finite element model are used for the finite element solution of the laminates. The modified feasible direction (MFD) method is used for the optimization routine. For this purpose, a program based on FORTRAN is used. Finally, the numerical analysis is carried out to investigate the effects of location of the internal line supports, plate aspect ratios and boundary conditions on the optimal designs and the results are compared.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제29권6호
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• pp.771-783
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• 2018

In this paper, topology optimization (TO) is applied to find a new configuration for the perforated steel plate shear wall (PSPSW) based on the maximization of reaction forces as the objective function. An infill steel plate is introduced based on an experimental model for TO. The TO is conducted using the sensitivity analysis, the method of moving asymptotes and SIMP method. TO is done using a nonlinear analysis (geometry and material) considering the buckling. The final area of the optimized plate is equal to 50% of the infill plate. Three plate thicknesses and three length-to-height ratios are defined and their effects are investigated in the TO. It indicates the plate thickness has no significant impact on the optimization results. The nonlinear behavior of optimized plates under cyclic loading is studied and the strength, energy and fracture tendency of them are investigated. Also, four steel plates including infill plate, a plate with a central circle and two types of the multi-circle plate are introduced with equal plate volume for comparing with the results of the optimized plate.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제48권5호
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• pp.583-597
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• 2023

This paper introduces a novel approach to multi-material topology optimization (MTO) targeting in-plane bi-directional functionally graded (IBFG) non-uniform thickness Reissner-Mindlin plates, employing an alternative active phase approach. The mathematical formulation integrates a first shear deformation theory (FSDT) to address compliance minimization as the objective function. Through an alternating active-phase algorithm in conjunction with the block Gauss-Seidel method, the study transforms a multi-phase topology optimization challenge with multi-volume fraction constraints into multiple binary phase sub-problems, each with a single volume fraction constraint. The investigation focuses on IBFG materials that incorporate adequate local bulk and shear moduli to enhance the precision of material interactions. Furthermore, the well-established mixed interpolation of tensorial components 4-node elements (MITC4) is harnessed to tackle shear-locking issues inherent in thin plate models. The study meticulously presents detailed mathematical formulations for IBFG plates in the MTO framework, underscored by numerous numerical examples demonstrating the method's efficiency and reliability.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제47권3호
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• pp.365-374
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• 2023

This paper presents a new scheme for constructing locking-free finite elements in thick and thin plates, called Discrete Shear Gap element (DSG), using multiphase material topology optimization for triangular elements of Reissner-Mindlin plates. Besides, common methods are also presented in this article, such as quadrilateral element (Q4) and reduced integration method. Moreover, when the plate gets too thin, the transverse shear-locking problem arises. To avoid that phenomenon, the stabilized discrete shear gap technique is utilized in the DSG3 system stiffness matrix formulation. The accuracy and efficiency of DSG are demonstrated by the numerical examples, and many superior properties are presented, such as being a strong competitor to the common kind of Q4 elements in the static topology optimization and its computed results are confirmed against those derived from the three-node triangular element, and other existing solutions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제43권6호
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• pp.771-794
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• 2012

This paper presents a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm for combinatorial optimisation and applied for design optimisation of fiber reinforced composite structures. The proposed algorithm closely follows the implementation of Pareto Archive Evolutionary strategy (PAES) proposed in the literature. The modifications suggested include a customized neighbourhood search algorithm in place of mutation operator to improve intensification mechanism and a cross over operator to improve diversification mechanism. Further, an external archive is maintained to collect the historical Pareto optimal solutions. The design constraints are handled in this paper by treating them as additional objectives. Numerical studies have been carried out by solving a hybrid fiber reinforced laminate composite cylindrical shell, stiffened composite cylindrical shell and pressure vessel with varied number of design objectives. The studies presented in this paper clearly indicate that well spread Pareto optimal solutions can be obtained employing the proposed algorithm.

• Composites Research
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.29-36
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• 2019

본 논문의 목적은 소재대체법과 치수최적화 기법을 이용한 2층 고속열차 알루미늄 압출재 차체의 경량 설계를 제시하는 것이다. 소재대체법을 수행하기 위해 위상최적화 기법을 이용하여 차체 구조물의 샌드위치 복합재 적용 부위를 결정하였다. 해석결과, 루프와 2층 언더프레임에 샌드위치 복합재가 적용 가능함을 보여주었다. 치수최적화는 알루미늄 압출재와 카본/에폭시 복합재의 두께를 결정하는데 사용되었다. 치수최적화를 수행하기 위해, 설계변수, 제약조건, 목적함수를 정식화 하였으며 이러한 조건에 의해 유효설계를 도출하였다. 경량 설계의 결과로 2층 고속열차 하이브리드 차체의 무게를 2.18 ton(17.70%)까지 줄일 수 있음을 보여주었다.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.403-413
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• 2017

The fabric braided braking hose that delivers the driver's braking force to brake cylinder undergoes the large deformation cyclic motion according to the steering and bump/rebound motions of vehicle. The cyclic large deformation of braking hose may give rise to two critical problems: the interference with other adjacent vehicle parts and the micro cracking stemming from the fatigue damage accumulation. Hence, both the hose deformation and the fatigue damage become the critical issue in the design of braking hose. In this context, this paper introduces a multi-objective optimization method for minimizing the both quantities. The total length of hose and the helix angles of fabric braided composite layers are chosen for the design variables, and the maximum hose deformation and the critical fatigue life cycle are defined by the individual single objective functions. The trade-off between two single objective functions is made by introducing the weighting factors. The proposed optimization method is validated and the improvement of initial hose design is examined through the benchmark simulation. Furthermore, the dependence of optimum solutions on the weighting factors is also investigated.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제12권5호
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• pp.523-545
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• 2013

Piezoelectric and dielectric behaviors of a piezoceramic patch adhesively centered on a carbon composite plate are identified using a robust multi-objective optimization procedure. For this purpose, the patch piezoelectric stress coupling and blocked dielectric constants are automatically evaluated for a wide frequency range and for the different identifiable behaviors. Latters' symmetry conditions are coded in the design plans serving for response surface methodology-based sensitivity analysis and meta-modeling. The identified constants result from the measured and computed open-circuit frequencies deviations minimization by a genetic algorithm that uses meta-model estimated frequencies. Present investigations show that the bonded piezoceramic patch has effective three-dimensional (3D) orthotropic piezoelectric and dielectric behaviors. Besides, the sensitivity analysis indicates that four constants, from eight, dominate the 3D orthotropic behavior, and that the analyses can be reduced to the electromechanically coupled modes only; therefore, in this case, and if only the dominated parameters are optimized while the others keep their nominal values, the resulting piezoelectric and dielectric behaviors are found to be transverse-isotropic. These results can help designing piezoceramics smart composites for various applications like noise, vibration, shape, and health control.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제81권3호
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• pp.267-280
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• 2022

Multiscale structure has attracted significant interest due to its high stiffness/strength to weight ratios and multifunctional performance. However, most of the existing concurrent topology optimization works are carried out under deterministic load conditions. Hence, this paper proposes a robust concurrent topology optimization method based on the bidirectional evolutionary structural optimization (BESO) method for the design of structures composed of periodic microstructures subjected to uncertain dynamic loads. The robust objective function is defined as the weighted sum of the mean and standard deviation of the module of dynamic structural compliance with constraints are imposed to both macro- and microscale structure volume fractions. The polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) method is used to quantify and propagate load uncertainty to evaluate the objective function. The effective properties of microstructure is evaluated by the numerical homogenization method. To release the computation burden, the decoupled sensitivity analysis method is proposed for microscale design variables. The proposed method is a non-intrusive method, and it can be conveniently extended to many topology optimization problems with other distributions. Several numerical examples are used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed robust concurrent topology optimization method.