• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.129-145
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• 2020

In typical, structural topology optimization plays a significant role to both increase stiffness and save mass of structures in the resulting design. This study contributes to a new numerical approach of topologically optimal design of Mindlin-Reissner plates considering Winkler foundation and mathematical formulations of multi-directional variable thickness of the plate by using multi-materials. While achieving optimal multi-material topologies of the plate with multi-directional variable thickness, the weight information of structures in terms of effective utilization of the material at the appropriate thickness location may be provided for engineers and designers of structures. Besides, numerical techniques of the well-established mixed interpolation of tensorial components 4 element (MITC4) is utilized to overcome a well-known shear locking problem occurring to thin plate models. The well-founded mathematical formulation of topology optimization problem with variable thickness Mindlin-Reissner plate structures by using multiple materials is derived in detail as one of main achievements of this article. Numerical examples verify that variable thickness Mindlin-Reissner plates on Winkler foundation have a significant effect on topologically optimal multi-material design results.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2011.04a
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• pp.760-763
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• 2011

본 논문의 목적은 효율적인 3절점 판 유한요소를 개발하는 것이다. Hellinger-Reissner 범함수에 근거한 혼합정식화(mixed formulation)를 사용한다. 잠김현상을 일으키는 전단변형률장을 독립적으로 분리한 후, MITC(Mixed Interpolation of Tensorial Components)방법을 이용하여 대체전단변형률장(assumed transverse shear strain field)을 구성한다. 추가적으로 회전된 반변기저벡터(contravariant base vector)로 정의된 근사전단변형률장(approximated transverse shear strain field)에 미지수(unknowns)를 도입하여 혼합정식화를 완성시키고 정적응축(static condensation)을 통해 최종 강성행렬을 구성한다. 거짓영에너지모드시험(spurious zero energy mode test), 조각시험(patch test), 등방성시험(isotropic test) 등을 실시하였으며, 4변 완전구속 정사각형 판 구조물과 60도 기울어진 단순지지 판 구조물 등 예제들을 해석하여 MITC3판 유한요소와 수렴성능을 비교하였다.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.633-649
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• 2022

This paper is first implemented with the bending behavior of three-dimensional functionally graded (3DFG) plates in the framework of level set-based topology optimization (LS-based TO). Besides, due to the suitable properties of the current design domain, the thin-plate spline (TPS) is recognized as a RBF to construct the LS function. The overall mechanical properties of the 3DFG plate are assessed using a power-law distribution scheme via Mori-Tanaka micromechanical material model. The bending response is obtained using the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT). The mixed interpolation of four elements of tensorial components (MITC4) is also implemented to overcome a well-known shear locking problem when the thickness becomes thinner. The Hamilton-Jacobi method is utilized in each iteration to enforce the necessary boundary conditions. The mathematical formulas are expressed in great detail for the LS-based TO using 3DFG materials. Several numerical examples are exhibited to verify the efficiency and reliability of the current methodology with the previously reported literature. Finally, the influences of FG materials in the optimized design are explained in detail to illustrate the behaviors of optimized structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.583-597
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• 2023

This paper introduces a novel approach to multi-material topology optimization (MTO) targeting in-plane bi-directional functionally graded (IBFG) non-uniform thickness Reissner-Mindlin plates, employing an alternative active phase approach. The mathematical formulation integrates a first shear deformation theory (FSDT) to address compliance minimization as the objective function. Through an alternating active-phase algorithm in conjunction with the block Gauss-Seidel method, the study transforms a multi-phase topology optimization challenge with multi-volume fraction constraints into multiple binary phase sub-problems, each with a single volume fraction constraint. The investigation focuses on IBFG materials that incorporate adequate local bulk and shear moduli to enhance the precision of material interactions. Furthermore, the well-established mixed interpolation of tensorial components 4-node elements (MITC4) is harnessed to tackle shear-locking issues inherent in thin plate models. The study meticulously presents detailed mathematical formulations for IBFG plates in the MTO framework, underscored by numerous numerical examples demonstrating the method's efficiency and reliability.