Compatibility in microstructural topology optimization

Compatibility in microstructural topology optimization: A physical method for generating connectable microstructures

Garner, Eric (TU Delft Industrial Design Engineering)

Wu, Jun (mentor)
Zadpoor, Amir (mentor)

Delft University of Technology

Integrated Product Design

2018-08-27

Microstructural materials with spatially-varying properties, such as trabecular bone tissue, are widely seen in nature. These functionally graded structures possess smoothly changing microscale topologies that enable performance far superior to that of their base material. While the optimization of periodic microstructures has been studied in depth, less attention has been paid to the assembly of optimized microstructures with spatially varying properties. Existing works address this problem by ensuring geometric connectivity between adjacent microstructural unit cells. In this report, we argue that geometric connectivity is insufficient to ensure the continuation of physical properties, and propose the concept of mechanical compatibility. Mechanical compatibility directly examines the effective mechanical properties of the individual cell together with its neighbour. Our approach simultaneously optimizes the mechanical properties of individual microstructures as well as those of neighbouring pairs, so that material connectivity and smoothly varying physical properties are ensured. We demonstrate the application of our method in the design of functionally graded material for implant design, and in the design of both coupled and decoupled multiscale structures.

material design
metamaterials
topology optimization
advanced materials

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7d939762-6ad2-4776-9fb7-a8b0a31f876f

2019-08-17

Student theses

master thesis

© 2018 Eric Garner