Robust concurrent topology optimization of structure and its composite material considering uncertainty with imprecise probability

TL;DR

This paper introduces a robust concurrent topology optimization method that integrates imprecise probabilistic material uncertainty into the design process, improving robustness and efficiency for structures and composites.

Contribution

It is the first to incorporate imprecise probability into multi-scale topology optimization, enhancing robustness in structural and composite material design.

Findings

Effective handling of imprecise probabilistic uncertainty

High efficiency with low precision loss

Applicable to both static and dynamic structures

Abstract

This paper studied a robust concurrent topology optimization (RCTO) approach to design the structure and its composite materials simultaneously. For the first time, the material uncertainty with imprecise probability is integrated into the multi-scale concurrent topology optimization (CTO) framework. To describe the imprecise probabilistic uncertainty efficiently, the type I hybrid interval random model is adopted. An improved hybrid perturbation analysis (IHPA) method is formulated to estimate the expectation and stand variance of the objective function in the worst case. Combined with the bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization (BESO) framework, the robust designs of the structure and its composite material are carried out. Several 2D and 3D numerical examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results show that the proposed method has high efficiency and low precision loss. In addition, the proposed RCTO approach remains efficient in both of linear static and dynamic structures, which shows its extensive adaptability.