Related papers: Optimized shock-protecting microstructures
Protective applications require energy-absorbing materials that are soft and compressible enough to absorb kinetic energy from impacts, yet stiff enough to bear crushing loads. Achieving this balance requires careful consideration of both…
The complex physics and numerous failure modes of structural impact creates challenges when designing for impact resistance. While simple geometries of layered material are conventional, advances in 3D printing and additive manufacturing…
Shells, i.e., objects made of a thin layer of material following a surface, are among the most common structures in use. They are highly efficient, in terms of material required to maintain strength, but also prone to deformation and…
Plasticity is inherent to many engineering materials such as metals. While it can degrade the load-carrying capacity of structures via material yielding, it can also protect structures through plastic energy dissipation. To fully harness…
The ideal shock absorber combines high stiffness with high energy absorption whilst retaining structural integrity after impact and is scalable for industrial production. So far no structure meets all of these criteria. Here, we introduce a…
Two-scale topology optimization, combined with the design of microstructure families with a broad range of effective material parameters, is increasingly widely used in many fabrication applications to achieve a target deformation behavior…
Topology optimization is an important basis for the design of components. Here, the optimal structure is found within a design space subject to boundary conditions. Thereby, the specific material law has a strong impact on the final design.…
The field of optimal design of linear elastic structures has seen many exciting successes that resulted in new architected materials and structural designs. With the availability of cloud computing, including high-performance computing,…
Topology optimization is a powerful tool utilized in various fields for structural design. However, its application has primarily been restricted to static or passively moving objects, mainly focusing on hard materials with limited…
Design requirements for moving parts in mechanical assemblies are typically specified in terms of interactions with other parts. Some are purely kinematic (e.g., pairwise collision avoidance) while others depend on physics and material…
The paper presents a topology optimization approach that designs an optimal structure, called a self-supporting structure, which is ready to be fabricated via additive manufacturing without the usage of additional support structures. Such…
Inspired by natural cellular materials such as trabecular bone, lattice structures have been developed as a new type of lightweight material. In this paper we present a novel method to design lattice structures that conform with both the…
With recent advances in both responsive materials and fabrication techniques it is now possible to construct integrated functional structures, composed of both structural and active materials. We investigate the robust design of such…
Fine scale elastic structures are widespread in nature, for instances in plants or bones, whenever stiffness and low weight are required. These patterns frequently refine towards a Dirichlet boundary to ensure an effective load transfer.…
A topology optimization method is presented for the design of periodic microstructured materials with prescribed homogenized nonlinear constitutive properties over finite strain ranges. The mechanical model assumes linear elastic isotropic…
We study a system that experiences damaging external shocks at stochastic intervals, continuous degradation, and self-healing. The motivation for such a system comes from real-life applications based on micro-electro-mechanical systems…
We propose a solution strategy for a multimaterial minimum compliance topology optimization problem, which consists in finding the optimal allocation of a finite number of candidate (possibly anisotropic) materials inside a reference…
A topology optimization approach for designing large deformation contact-aided shape morphing compliant mechanisms is presented. Such mechanisms can be used in varying operating conditions. Design domains are described by regular hexagonal…
This article combines shape optimization and homogenization techniques by looking for the optimal design of the microstructure in composite materials and of scaffolds. The development of materials with specific properties is of huge…
It is a common point that "soft" condensed matter (like granular materials or foams) can reduce damage caused by impact or explosion. It is attributed to their ability to absorb significant energy. This is certainly the case for a…