Structural Topology Optimization Through Explicit Boundary Evolution

Traditional topology optimization is usually carried out with approaches where structural boundaries are represented in an implicit way. The aim of the present paper is to develop a topology optimization framework where both the shape and topology of a structure can be obtained simultaneously through an explicit boundary description and evolution. To this end, B-spline curves are used to describe the boundaries of moving morphable components (MMCs) or moving morphable voids (MMVs) in the structure and some special techniques are developed to preserve the smoothness of the structural boundary when topological change occurs. Numerical examples show that optimal designs with smooth structural boundaries can be obtained successfully with the use of the proposed approach.