A multi-material topology optimization with temperature-dependent thermoelastic properties

Abstract

This is a study on the development of a novel multi-material topology optimization scheme considering temperature-dependent thermoelastic properties for engineering structure design. Two cases, a three-point-bending beam under a uniform temperature field and a cantilever beam under a non-uniform temperature field, are investigated for the effects of thermoelastic properties on topology optimization. The proposed optimization scheme is compared with two existing topology optimization approaches: conventional topology optimization and thermoelastic topology optimization. The results show that the temperature-dependent elastic modulus dominantly influences the design optimization outcomes, in terms of material distribution, structural shape and compliance, while the temperature-dependent thermal expansion coefficient has a much more crucial impact on determining the material distribution and structural geometry than on compliance. Taken together, the findings demonstrate that the developed topology optimization scheme can be used to design thermally sensitive multi-materials in industrial applications, e.g. aerospace structures under high temperature and polymers in additive manufacturing.

KEYWORDS:

• Thermoelastic model
• topology optimization
• multi-material design
• coefficient of thermal expansion
• temperature-dependent material properties

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Krister Svanberg for providing the MMA code in MATLAB.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors thank the Australian Research Council for the support of a Discovery Project Grant [DP190102354].