The major drawback in three-dimensional shape optimization is the exce
ssive computational time needed in spite of the use of parametric-type
design variables. Therefore, in addition to parametrization we sugges
t the use of several meshing levels to speed up the obtention of the o
ptimal solution and to check the precision of the analysis by an error
estimation. The combination of parametrization, multi-mesh and error
estimation allows us to deal efficiently with three-dimensional shape
optimization problems. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd