Vorm- en topologie-optimalisatie ter verbetering van de performantie en modellen van dunwandige constructies

Along with rapid prototyping techniques and advanced numerical modelling methods, the use of optimisation procedures has become increasingly common during the design phase of engineering structures. Although many structural optimisation methods have reached a high level of maturity, proof-of-concept studies often focus on structures modelled using two-dimensional planar or three-dimensional solid finite elements. Many real-world engineering structures can be classified as thin-walled, for which shell finite elements often provide a more efficient and accurate representation of the structural behaviour. Given their prevalence in engineering applications, this work focuses on the structural optimisation of thin-walled structures. In particular, this study addresses the combined use of shape and topology optimisation with a straightforward framework: a density-based method is employed to determine the optimal topology, coupled with a node-based method to find the optimal shape. The node-based approach offers great flexibility in achievable geometries due to the large design space. Furthermore, since both density-based topology optimisation and node-based shape optimisation rely solely on information from the finite element model, the proposed framework can readily be combined with existing finite element implementations.