Computational Mechanics for the Twenty-First Century
Edited by: B.H.V. Topping

Chapter 20

TOPOLOGY AND SHAPE STRUCTURAL OPTIMIZATION THAT MINIMIZES MAXIMUM STRESS AND MAXIMIZES STIFFNESS

G. Steven, Q. Li and Y.M. Xie
Department of Aeronautical Engineering, University of Sydney, N.S.W., Australia

Engineering designs that offer a balance between both stiffness maximization and stress minimization can be of much practical significance. This paper aims at exploring the application of the Evolutionary Structural Optimization (ESO) method to such multicriteria design problems. To evaluate the overall effect on the design of material variation due to these two optimality criteria, a weighting scheme is adopted, whereby the weight factors emphasize and/or balance the stiffness and stress criteria. The work can accommodate various situations involving shape and topology design with multiple criteria. Also the important practical aspects of possible multiple peak stresses and multiple load cases are taken into account. A number of examples demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed method for solving multicriteria design optimization structural design problems.

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