The Radial Point Interpolation Method combined with a bi-directional structural topology optimization algorithm

Gonçalves, D. C.; Lopes, Joel; Campilho, R.D.S.G.; Belinha, Jorge

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/22034

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Projecting reduced-weight components with increased performance is a continuous engineering challenge, especially in the aircraft industry, where fuel consumption, emissions, and performance are highly dependent on structure weight. Nowadays, topology optimization is a growing computational technique capable of calculating optimal material configurations within a design domain and boundary conditions. Although the Finite Element Method (FEM) is the most disseminated discretization technique in engineering, meshless methods emerged as efficient alternatives to mesh-based methods. In meshless methods, the problem domain is discretized by an unstructured nodal distribution with no predetermined connectivity. Additionally, accurate and smooth stress fields can be obtained as a result of the elaborate shape functions and deep nodal connectivity allowed by meshless techniques. Despite, meshless methods application to topology optimization is still limited. In this work, an improved evolutionary topology optimization algorithm is combined with the Radial Point Interpolation Method (RPIM), a meshless technique. First, the proposed method was validated by solving two benchmark topology optimization problems, for which the developed algorithm efficiently achieved the optimal material configuration. Then, the capability of the topology optimization algorithm is demonstrated by extending the methodology to practical aircraft applications.