Open Access

ARTICLE

Topological Design of Structures Using a Cellular Automata Method

Yixian Du^1,2,3,4, De Chen¹, Xiaobo Xiang¹, Qihua Tian¹, Yi Zhang¹
1 College of Mechanical & Material Engineering, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002.
2 Hubei Key Laboratory of Hydroelectric Machinery Design & Maintenance, Yichang 443002.
3 Corresponding Author.
Tel: +86-717-6397560; Fax: +86-717-6397559; Email: duyixian@aliyun.com
4 Collaborative Innovation Center for Energy Equipment of Three Gorges Region, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, China.

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2013, 94(1), 53-75. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmes.2013.094.053

Abstract

Topological design of continuum structures usually involves numerical instabilities, such as checkerboards and mesh-dependency, which degenerate the manufacturability, the efficiency and the robustness of the optimal design. This paper will propose a new topology optimization method to suppress numerical instabilities occurred in the topology optimization of continua, according to the principle of error amplifier and feedback control in the control system. The design variables associated with topological design are updated based on the Cellular Automata (CA) theory. A couple of typical numerical examples are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in effectively suppressing numerical instabilities occurred in the numerical procedure of topology optimization.

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Keywords

Topology optimization, Cellular automata, Numerical instability

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