Topology design of large displacement compliant mechanisms with multiple materials and multiple output ports
Topology optimization of compliant mechanisms is presented in this paper wherein the layout design problem is addressed in its original binary or discrete (0-1) form. Design variables are modeled as discrete variables and allowed to assume values pertaining only to their void (0) or solid (1) states. Due to this discrete nature, a genetic algorithm is employed as an optimization routine. Using the barrier assignment approach, the search algorithm is extended to use with multiple materials. The layout design of compliant mechanisms is performed wherein displacements at multiple points (ports) in the design region are maximized along the respective prescribed directions. With multiple output ports and multiple materials, additional freedom in motion and force transduction can be achieved with compliant mechanisms. Geometrically large deformation analysis is employed to compute the displacement-based multiple objectives that are extremized using Nondominated Sorting in Genetic Algorithms (or NSGA). With genetic algorithms, buckling or snap through like issues with nonconvergent solutions in the population when computing nonlinear deformations can be implicitly circumvented.
large displacements compliant mechanisms topology optimization genetic algorithms