Maximum length scale requirement in a topology optimisation method based on NURBS hyper-surfaces

Abstract

This paper deals with a new method for handling manufacturing and geometrical requirements in the framework of a general Topology Optimisation (TO) strategy. In particular, the maximum length scale constraint (MLSC) implementation is addressed in order to obtain multiple load paths or to locally limit the size of the component. The classic formulation of the MLSC is revisited in the framework of a density-based TO algorithm wherein the pseudo-density field is represented through a NURBS hyper-surface. The NURBS hyper-surface properties are exploited to effectively formulate the MLSC. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is proven on a meaningful 3D benchmark.