Topological Shape Optimization of Heat Conduction Problems using Level Set Approach

ABSTRACT

A topological shape optimization method for heat conduction problems is developed using a level set method. The level set function obtained from the “Hamilton-Jacobi type” equation is embedded into a fixed initial domain to implicitly represent thermal boundaries and obtain the finite-element response and adjoint sensitivity. The developed method minimizes the thermal compliance, satisfying the constraint of allowable volume by varying the implicit boundary. During optimization, the boundary velocity to integrate the Hamilton-Jacobi equation is obtained from the optimality condition. The newly developed method shows no numerical instability and makes it easy to represent topological shape variations.

This work was supported by the Advanced Ship Engineering Research Center of the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (grant R11-2002-104-03002-0) in 2003–2004. The support is gratefully acknowledged.