Design of fiber-reinforced composite structures by using topology optimization

• Grant number: 20/07557-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): November 01, 2020
• Effective date (End): February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Mechanical Engineering Design
• Principal Investigator: Emílio Carlos Nelli Silva
• Grantee: André Luis Ferreira da Silva
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50948-3 - INCT 2014: advanced eco-efficient technologies in cementitious products, AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/13994-3 - Design of concrete structures reinforced with fiber using topology optimziation, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

This work belongs to the National Institute for Advanced Eco-Efficient Cement Technologies (INCT CEMTEC), FAPESP project: 2014/50948-3, and it is part of the research line of Fiber Reinforced Composites (CRF). The use of CRF in engineering applications is increasing over the last few years. These materials result from the combination of two or more materials, and because of that, it can be used to design structures which have, for example, low specific mass e good strength properties. New technologies capable of manufacturing these structures with complex configuration are emerging with the advent of Additive Manufacturing, and as a result, several recent published works focus on the optimization of fiber orientation of these materials. The composite materials optimization works found in the literature consider the hypothesis of small deformations, limiting the application to structures that have linear elastic behavior. Beside that, it is important to consider design constraints to make manufacturing feasible and to ensure fiber continuity, which is import for manufacturing questions and to avoid stress concentration. All these issues can be explored using Topological Optimization, which can determine the material distribution and fiber orientation in a fiber-reinforced gantry to maximize or minimize a specified cost function. Thus, the objective of this work is to develop a Topological Optimization algorithm capable of distributing the material and orienting the fibers in a composite frame, respecting volume constraints, design constraints, and ensure fiber continuity. The stress-strain relation considered in this paper is fully nonlinear, based on a transversally isotropic Neo-Hookean model. Therefore, the imposition of the hypothesis of small deformations is not necessary. Besides, material distribution and fiber orientation are performed simultaneously by using models based on pseudo-density and candidate angles. Continuity is ensured by using filters which avoid abrupt changes along the fibers. FEniCS platform is used for the numerical implementation, concomitantly with the Dolfin-Adjoint libraries for sensitivity determination and IPOPT for optimization. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SALAS, RUBEN ANDRES; FERREIRA DA SILVA, ANDRE LUIS; NELLI SILVA, EMILIO CARLOS. HYIMFO: Hybrid method for optimizing fiber orientation angles in laminated piezocomposite actuators. COMPUTER METHODS IN APPLIED MECHANICS AND ENGINEERING, v. 385, NOV 1 2021. (20/07557-4, 14/50279-4, 11/19979-1)