Efficient design optimization of variable-density cellular structures for additive manufacturing: theory and experimental validation

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to propose a homogenization-based topology optimization method to optimize the design of variable-density cellular structure, in order to achieve lightweight design and overcome some of the manufacturability issues in additive manufacturing. Design/methodology/app...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Rapid prototyping journal 2017-06, Vol.23 (4), p.660-677
Main Authors: Cheng, Lin, Zhang, Pu, Biyikli, Emre, Bai, Jiaxi, Robbins, Joshua, To, Albert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Additive manufacturing
CAD
Cellular manufacture
Cellular structure
Colleges & universities
Computer aided design
Computer simulation
Density
Density distribution
Design for manufacturability
Design optimization
Homogenization
Laboratories
Manufacturability
Materials science
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical properties
Methods
Rapid prototyping
Scale (ratio)
Stiffness
Theory
Topology optimization
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Summary:Purpose The purpose of the paper is to propose a homogenization-based topology optimization method to optimize the design of variable-density cellular structure, in order to achieve lightweight design and overcome some of the manufacturability issues in additive manufacturing. Design/methodology/approach First, homogenization is performed to capture the effective mechanical properties of cellular structures through the scaling law as a function their relative density. Second, the scaling law is used directly in the topology optimization algorithm to compute the optimal density distribution for the part being optimized. Third, a new technique is presented to reconstruct the computer-aided design (CAD) model of the optimal variable-density cellular structure. The proposed method is validated by comparing the results obtained through homogenized model, full-scale simulation and experimentally testing the optimized parts after being additive manufactured. Findings The test examples demonstrate that the homogenization-based method is efficient, accurate and is able to produce manufacturable designs. Originality/value The optimized designs in our examples also show significant increase in stiffness and strength when compared to the original designs with identical overall weight.
ISSN:1355-2546
1758-7670
DOI:10.1108/RPJ-04-2016-0069