Structural Shape Optimization of Vibration Characteristics.

A structural topology optimization technique which optimizes the frequency response characteristics is proposed in this paper. The natural frequency and the linear quadratic performance index with respect to the response are defined as the objective function. The density of each finite element is adopted as the design variable and the optimum distribution of the density is sought based on the quasi-Newton method. Minimizig the performance index against the white and the colored noise disturbances, frequency response shaping is achieved. In order to realize the actual structure, a method to separate the value of the density to zero and one, in which the penalty function to divide the density into the two values is introduced in the objective function, is also proposed.