OPTIMAL TOPOLOGY DESIGN USING A GLOBAL SELF-ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACH

A method based on a self-organisational approach has been developed, w here a local state operator defines the state of each finite element a t each iteration. The algorithm is based on the principle of local ada ptation with global feedback in the form of a derivative equation base d on von Mises stresses that allows the local remodelling function to vary at each time step. The state operator has the form of a nonlinear differential equation solved iteratively based on the material densit y and strain energy density within each element. A constraint equation is formulated based on a maximum deviatoric strain energy criteria, w ith the objective to minimise the mass of the design domain subject to the above constraint. A number of examples are presented to demonstra te the use of this approach. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.