A Smooth Bidirectional Evolutionary Structural Optimization of Vibrational Structures for Natural Frequency and Dynamic Compliance

A smooth bidirectional evolutionary structural optimization (SBESO), as a bidirectional version of SESO is proposed to solve the topological optimization of vibrating continuum structures for natural frequencies and dynamic compliance under the transient load. A weighted function is introduced to regulate the mass and stiffness matrix of an element, which has the inefficient element gradually removed from the design domain as if it were undergoing damage. Aiming at maximizing the natural frequency of a structure, the frequency optimization formulation is proposed using the SBESO technique. The effects of various weight functions including constant, linear and sine functions on structural optimization are compared. With the equivalent static load (ESL) method, the dynamic stiffness optimization of a structure is formulated by the SBESO technique. Numerical examples show that compared with the classic BESO method, the SBESO method can efficiently suppress the excessive element deletion by adjusting the element deletion rate and weight function. It is also found that the proposed SBESO technique can obtain an efficient configuration and smooth boundary and demonstrate the advantages over the classic BESO technique.

Automated summary

A smooth bidirectional evolutionary structural optimization (SBESO) is proposed for the topological optimization of vibrating continuum structures for natural frequencies and dynamic compliance. The SBESO method removes inefficient elements gradually from the design domain using a weighted function. The frequency optimization and dynamic stiffness optimization are formulated using the SBESO technique.