• International Journal of CAD/CAM
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 2007

A topology optimization methodology, named "smooth boundary topology optimization," is proposed to overcome the shortcomings of cell-based methods. Material boundary is represented by B-spline curves and their control points are considered as design variables. The design is improved by either creating a hole or moving control points. To determine which is more beneficial, a selection criterion is defined. Once determined to create a hole, it is represented by a new B-spline and recognized as a new boundary. Because the proposed method deals with the control points of B-spline as design variables, their total number is much smaller than cell-based methods and it ensures smooth boundaries. Differences between our method and level set method are also discussed. It is shown that our method is a natural way of obtaining smooth boundary topology design effectively combining computer graphics technique and design sensitivity analysis.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.79-94
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• 2010

This study shows how uncertainties of data like material properties quantitatively have an influence on structural topology optimization results for dynamic problems, here such as both optimal topology and shape. In general, the data uncertainties may result in uncertainties of structural behaviors like deflection or stress in structural analyses. Therefore optimization solutions naturally depend on the uncertainties in structural behaviors, since structural behaviors estimated by the structural analysis method like FEM need to execute optimization procedures. In order to quantitatively estimate the effect of data uncertainties on topology optimization solutions of dynamic problems, a so-called interval analysis is utilized in this study, and it is a well-known non-stochastic approach for uncertainty estimate. Topology optimization is realized by using a typical SIMP method, and for dynamic problems the optimization seeks to maximize the first-order eigenfrequency subject to a given material limit like a volume. Numerical applications topologically optimizing dynamic wall structures with varied supports are studied to verify the non-stochastic interval analysis is also suitable to estimate topology optimization results with dynamic problems.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2011

This paper considers a topological optimization of a network design with mean packet delay and node connectivity constraints. The objective is to find the topological layout of links, at minimal cost. This Problem is known to be NP-hard. To efficiently solve the problem, a scatter search algorithm is proposed. An illustrative example is used to explain and test the proposal approach. Experimental results show evidence that the proposal approach performs more efficiently for finding a good solution or near optimal solution in comparison with a genetic approach.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.101-107
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• 2008

This paper considers a topological optimization of a computer network design with a reliability constraint. The objective is to find the topological layout of links, at minimal cost, under the constraint that the network reliability is more than a given reliability. To efficiently solve the problem, a scatter search approach is proposed. Two illustrative examples are used to explain and test the proposed approach. Experimental results show evidence that the proposed approach performs more efficiently for finding a good solution or near optimal solution in comparison with a genetic algorithm approach.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.10 no.9
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• pp.2179-2182
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• 2009

Recently, the development of new structural model in optical mechanical system is required to be started from the conceptual design with low cost, high performance and quality. In this point, a structural-topological shape of system concerned with conceptual design of mechanical structure has a great effect on performance of the system such as the structural rigidities and weight reduction. In this paper, the optimization design methodologies are presented in the design stages of large optical structure. First, using topology optimization, we obtain the optimal layout and the reinforcement of structure, and then carry out the detail designs using size optimization and multidisciplinary optimization technique. As an example, these methods were applied to the design of large mirror structure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.343-347
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• 2008

Design of shape for visco-elastic vibration isolation elements, which are very cost-effective and so popular in many applications is frequently based on experiences, intuitions, or trial and errors. Such traditions in shape design make it difficult for drastic changes or new concepts to come out. In this paper, both topological method and shape optimization method are combined together to find out a most desirable isolator shape efficiently by using two commercial engineering programs. ABAQUS and MATLAB. The procedure is divided into two steps. At the first step, a topology optimization method is employed to find an initial shape. where density of either 0 or 1 for finite elements is used for physical realizability. At the second step, based on the initial shape, finer tuning of the shape is done by boundary movement method. An illustration of the procedure will be presented for a mount of an air-conditioner compressor system and the effectiveness will be discussed.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.253-261
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• 2004

A simple and effective filtering method to control the member size of an optimized structure is proposed for topology optimization. In the present approach, the original objective sensitivities are replaced with their relative values evaluated within a filtering area. By adjusting the size of the filtering area, the member size of an optimized structure or the level of its topological complexity can be controlled even within a given finite element mesh. In contrast to the checkerboard-free filter, the present filter focuses on high-frequency components of the sensitivities. Since the present filtering method does not add a penalty term to the objective function nor require additional constraints, it is not only efficient but also simple to implement. Mean compliance minimization and eigenfrequency maximization problems are considered to verify the effectiveness of the present approach.

• Korean Management Science Review
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.55-65
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• 2009

The objective of this paper is to propose an ant colony optimization (ACO) for clustering design in wireless sensor network problem. This proposed ACO approach is designed to deal with the dynamics of the sensor nodes which can be adaptable to topological changes to any network graph in a time. Long communication distances between sensors and a sink in a sensor network can greatly consume the energy of sensors and reduce the lifetime of a network. We can greatly minimize the total communication distance while minimizing the number of cluster heads using proposed ACO. Simulation results show that our proposed method is very efficient to find the best solutions comparing to the optimal solution using CPLEX in 100, 200, and 400 node sensor networks.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2006.07b
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• pp.651-652
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• 2006

This research presents a topology optimization for manipulating the main heat flow in coupled magneto-thermal systems. The heat generated by eddy currents is considered in the design domain assuming an adiabatic boundary. For a practical optimization, the convection condition is considered in the topological process of the thermal field. Topology design sensitivity is derived by employing the discrete system equations combined with the adjoint variable method. As numerical examples, a simple iron and a C-core design heated-up by eddy currents demonstrate the strength of the proposed approach to solve the coupled problem.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1996.04a
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• pp.182-189
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• 1996

The focus of this study is on the problem of the design of structure of undetermined topology. This problem has been regarded as being the most challenging of structural optimization problems, because of the difficulty of allowing topology to change. Conventional approaches break down when element sizes approach to zero, due to stiffness matrix singularity. In this study, a novel nonlinear Programming formulation of the topology Problem is developed and examined. Its main feature is the ability to account for topology variation through zero element sizes. Stiffness matrix singularity is avoided by embedding the equilibrium equations as equality constraints in the optimization problem. Although the formulation is general, two dimensional plane elasticity examples are presented. The design problem is to find minimum weight of a plane structure of fixed geometry but variable topology, subject to constraints on stress and displacement. Variables are thicknesses of finite elements, and are permitted to assume zero sizes. The examples demonstrate that the formulation is effective for finding at least a locally minimal weight.