Effect of different fatigue constraints on optimal topology of structures with minimum weight

As one of the failure criteria with ascending importance for engineering problems, fatigue has recently been considered in topology optimization and different optimal topologies have been obtained which satisfying one or two fatigue failure criteria considered in the codes. The topologies and performance of those optimal designs are different if a different fatigue criterion is considered. Those difference may bring some concerns when those topologies are used in the real practice. In this paper, three different fatigue criteria are considered as constraints in structural optimization based on bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization. A modified p-norm approach is employed to decrease the computational cost for all examples. Comparisons of topologies and performance of the resultant optimal designs together with that from traditional compliance minimization designs clarify the effect of different fatigue criteria on those optimal designs for different design problems. These results will provide useful reference for engineers to design structures to avoid high frequency fatigue failure.

Automated summary

Fatigue, an important failure criterion in engineering problems, has been considered in topology optimization. Different optimal topologies have been obtained based on different fatigue criteria. This paper explores the effect of different fatigue criteria on optimal designs using bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization and a modified p-norm approach. The results provide useful reference for engineers to design structures to avoid high frequency fatigue failure.