Premium
A new level set method for topology optimization of distributed compliant mechanisms
Author(s) -
Zhu Benliang,
Zhang Xianmin
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.421
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1097-0207
pISSN - 0029-5981
DOI - 10.1002/nme.4296
Subject(s) - topology optimization , level set method , compliant mechanism , level set (data structures) , set (abstract data type) , topology (electrical circuits) , mathematical optimization , function (biology) , computer science , mathematics , finite element method , engineering , structural engineering , artificial intelligence , biology , programming language , segmentation , combinatorics , evolutionary biology , image segmentation
SUMMARY A new level set method for topology optimization of distributed compliant mechanism is presented in this study. By taking two types of mean compliance into consideration, several new objective functions are developed and built in the conventional level set method to avoid generating the de facto hinges in the created mechanisms. Aimed at eliminating the costly reinitialization procedure during the evolution of the level set function, an accelerated level set evolution algorithm is developed by adding an extra energy function, which can force the level set function to close to a signed distance function during the evolution. Two widely studied numerical examples in topology optimization of compliant mechanisms are studied to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.