An Integrated Environment for Structural Configuration Design

SUMMARY Structural design is a mature field of engineering. The relatively recent efforts for lightweight structures have motivated increasing use of formal mathematical optimization techniques for selecting the shape and sizes of structural members. How to obtain rigorous optimal topologies has been an elusive goal until the very recent introduction of the homogenization method. The present article describes a system for designing complete structures from only an initial space and loading specifications. A three–phase design process is followed: generate an approximate topological image with homogenization, process the image to obtain a practical realistic structure, and refine the final topology by detailed shape and size optimization. An overview of the system at its present state of development is given together with some examples.