Structural weight minimization under stress constraints and multiple loading

Abstract In this paper we present an approach for structural weight minimization under von Mises stress constraints and multiple load-cases. The minimization problem is solved by using the topological derivative concept, which allows the development of efficient and robust topology optimization algorithms. Since we are dealing with multiple loading, the resulting sensitivity is obtained as a sum of the topological derivatives associated with each load-case. The derived result is used together with a level-set domain representation method to devise a topology design algorithm. Several numerical examples are presented showing the effectiveness of the proposed approach.