CFRCTop: An Efficient MATLAB Implementation for Topology Optimization of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Composite Structures

We present CFRCTop, a MATLAB implementation for topology optimization of continuous fiber-reinforced composite structures. The implementation includes density and fiber-orientation filtering, finite element analysis, sensitivity analysis, design variable updating, verification of optimality of fiber orientations, and visualization of results. This code is built upon the well-known topology optimization code top88. The template stiffness matrices (TSMs)-based method is employed for efficient finite element analysis and sensitivity analysis. The density and fiber-orientation variables are updated separately. Visualization of spatially varying fiber orientations is provided. Extensions to solving various problems are also discussed. Computational performance and scalability are studied to showcase the high efficiency of this implementation. CFRCTop is intended for students and newcomers in the field of topology optimization.