Title: Topology optimisation of periodic structures with multiple materials using BESO

Authors: Jie Xu; Yongfeng Zheng; Liang Gao

Addresses: State Key Lab of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China ' State Key Lab of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China ' State Key Lab of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China

Abstract: Periodic structures have been used extensively in many engineering fields due to their unique advantages, including being easy to manufacture and assemble. A combination of multiple materials can provide a more favourable performance for periodic structures. This study aims to optimise multi-material periodic structures by using bi-directional evolutionary structural optimisation (BESO). Firstly, a topology optimisation framework for multiple materials is developed to design periodic structures using BESO. Then, a material interpolation model is adopted to display the overall layouts of multiple materials in the design domain. Finally, three numerical examples are investigated to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed design framework, regarding obtaining periodic structures with multiple materials.

Keywords: topology optimisation; periodic structures; multiple materials; bi-directional evolutionary structural optimisation; BESO.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2020.113179

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology, 2020 Vol.61 No.2/3/4, pp.111 - 130

Received: 05 Dec 2019
Accepted: 07 Jul 2020
Published online: 23 Feb 2021 *

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