• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.363-375
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• 2024

Within the optimization field, addressing the intricate posed by fluidic pressure loads on functionally graded structures with frequency-related designs is a kind of complex design challenges. This paper thus introduces an innovative density-based topology optimization strategy for frequency-constraint functionally graded structures incorporating Darcy's law and a drainage term. It ensures consistent treatment of design-dependent fluidic pressure loads to frequency-related structures that dynamically adjust their direction and location throughout the design evolution. The porosity of each finite element, coupled with its drainage term, is intricately linked to its density variable through a Heaviside function, ensuring a seamless transition between solid and void phases. A design-specific pressure field is established by employing Darcy's law, and the associated partial differential equation is solved using finite element analysis. Subsequently, this pressure field is utilized to ascertain consistent nodal loads, enabling an efficient evaluation of load sensitivities through the adjoint-variable method. Moreover, this novel approach incorporates load-dependent structures, frequency constraints, functionally graded material models, and polygonal meshes, expanding its applicability and flexibility to a broader range of engineering scenarios. The proposed methodology's effectiveness and robustness are demonstrated through numerical examples, including fluidic pressure-loaded frequency-constraint structures undergoing small deformations, where compliance is minimized for structures optimized within specified resource constraints.