Optymalizacja topologiczna ramy nośnej 20-stopowego kontenera biurowego

Abstract

Numerical structural analysis using the finite element method has be-come standard in modern machine and equipment design processes. Increasingly, not only the strength or stiffness of the structure is verified, but also the selection of geometric features in optimisation analyses is performed in an automated man-ner. The paper deals with the problem of topological optimisation of the supporting frame of a 20-foot office container at the initial stage of geometric feature selection. The computations were performed in the ANSYS Workbench environment. Four load cases were formulated according to the operating conditions of the container. The objective function for the analyses was to achieve a minimum mass. Con-straints defining the set of good solutions were also adopted for the analyses. These constraints included excluding from the analyses those areas of the model where boundary conditions were applied and limiting the maximum dimensions of the frame cross sections. On the basis of the analyses, a numerical model of the frame that was considered optimal in terms of maximum weight loss was indicated. For this variant, a geometric shape of a frame composed of standardised sections was proposed. The frame obtained in this way was subjected to a computational verifi-cation in terms of structural strength for the boundary conditions resulting from the previously assumed load cases. The work demonstrates the effectiveness of top-ological optimisation using the SIMP method for the analysis of frame structures.