Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization
G.H. Paulino and C.H. Le
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Newmark Laboratory, 205 North Mathews Avenue, IL 61801, USA
Design-variable and displacement fields are distinct. Thus the respective material and finite element meshes may also be distinct, as well as the actual location of nodes for the two fields. Therefore the proposed Q4/Q4M element possesses design-variable nodes and displacement nodes which are not coincident. The element has been implemented using different approaches, including continuous approximation of material distribution and nodal approaches. The results obtained demonstrate that the element is effective in generating structural topologies with high resolution.
KEY WORDS: Topology Optimization, node-based design variables, material mesh, displacement mesh, Q4/U, Q4/Q4, Q4/Q4M