Topology Optimization for Elastic Analysis of 3D Structures using Evolutionary Methods

Resumo

This work aims at the study and application of Topology Optimization (TO) in problems of
elasticity for the determination of the final configuration in 3D structures using the criterion of minimum
compliance, seeking the minimization of volume and maintaining its rigidity. The methods of
evolutionary structural optimization employed are: a) Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization (SIMP);
b) Evolutionary Structural Optimization (ESO); c) Smoothing Evolutionary Structural Optimization
(SESO) and d) Sequential Element Rejection and Admission (SERA) which are based on the systematic
and gradual removal of the elements following a set of sensitivity criteria. For this, all the methods are
implemented in Matlab software and numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the ability of the
proposed methods to solve 3D topology problems, presenting the difference in computational time
among them.