Abstract
The smooth design of self-supporting topologies has attracted great attention in the design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) field as it cannot only enhance the manufacturability of optimized designs but can obtain light-weight designs that satisfy specific performance requirements. This paper integrates Langelaar’s AM filter into the Smooth-Edged Material Distribution for Optimizing Topology (SEMDOT) algorithm—a new element-based topology optimization method capable of forming smooth boundaries—to obtain print-ready designs without introducing post-processing methods for smoothing boundaries before fabrication and adding extra support structures during fabrication. The effects of different build orientations and critical overhang angles on self-supporting topologies are demonstrated by solving several compliance minimization (stiffness maximization) problems. In addition, a typical compliant mechanism design problem—the force inverter design—is solved to further demonstrate the effectiveness of the combination between SEMDOT and Langelaar’s AM filter.
Highlights
Design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) represents a range of design methods through which performance and/or other key considerations such as manufacturability, reliability and cost can be optimized subject to the capabilities of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies [1,2,3,4]
As traditional element-based algorithms such as solid isotropic material with penalization (SIMP), rational material with penalization (RAMP) and bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization (BESO) will inevitably form non-smooth boundaries, post-processing or redesign methods have to be used to obtain accurate boundary information for the purpose of engineering applications [7,8,9], meaning that extra efforts have to be made after topology optimization
Given the significance of accurate boundary representation, some element-based algorithms that are capable of forming smooth boundaries such as multiresolution topology optimization (MTO) methods [10,11,12], elemental volume fraction-based methods [13,14,15,16] and a method using floating projection [17,18] have been developed in recent years
Summary
Design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) represents a range of design methods through which performance and/or other key considerations such as manufacturability, reliability and cost can be optimized subject to the capabilities of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies [1,2,3,4]. The early work in this field was Langelaar’s gradient-based AM filter [25], followed by an improved method capable of executing simultaneous topology optimization and support structures considering metal AM constraints and post-print machining requirements [26]. Bi et al [32] developed a new layer-wise geometric self-supporting constraint for 3D continuum structures based on BESO, and an AM experiment was conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed constraint by printing a hinge frame used in the aerospace field. The authors of this study merely focused on the smooth design of 2D self-supporting topologies through the combination of the Smooth-Edged Material Distribution for Optimizing Topology (SEMDOT) algorithm and Langelaar’s AM filter in previous works [33,34].
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