Integer linear programming models for topology optimization in sheet metal design

The process of designing new industrial products is in many cases solely based on the intuition and experience of the responsible design engineer. The aid of computers is restricted to visualization and manual manipulation tools. We demonstrate that the design process for conduits, which are made ou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mathematical methods of operations research (Heidelberg, Germany) Germany), 2008-10, Vol.68 (2), p.313-331
Main Authors: Fugenschuh, Armin, Fugenschuh, Marzena
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business and Management
Calculus of Variations and Optimal Control
Optimization
Geometry
Integer programming
Linear programming
Manufacturing
Mathematics
Mathematics and Statistics
Metalworking industry
Network topologies
Numerical analysis
Operations research
Operations Research/Decision Theory
Optimization techniques
Original Article
Product design
Studies
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Summary:The process of designing new industrial products is in many cases solely based on the intuition and experience of the responsible design engineer. The aid of computers is restricted to visualization and manual manipulation tools. We demonstrate that the design process for conduits, which are made out of sheet metal plates, can be supported by mathematical optimization models and solution techniques, leading to challenging optimization problems. The design goal is to find a topology that consists of several channels with a given cross section area using a minimum amount of sheet metal and, at the same time, maximizing its stiffness. We consider a mixed integer linear programming model to describe the topology of two dimensional slices of a three dimensional sheet metal product. We give different model formulations, based on cuts and on multicommodity flows. Numerical results for various test instances are presented.
ISSN:1432-2994
1432-5217
DOI:10.1007/s00186-008-0223-z