H. Alicia Kim, University of California, San Diego
Topology optimization is now commonly available in commercial finite element and CAE software for structural design. The most common application is to design a stiff component under a small set of loading conditions under linear elasticity for carrying loads, sometimes with a stress requirement. It is well known that this class of problem works reasonably well with the common density based topology optimization method in finding the optimum design. When topology optimization is applied to more complex multiphysics designs, there are some fundamental challenges for the density based method to converge to a realistic design. This presentation will give an overview of recent research in topology optimization for this challenging class of problems and show that the solutions for multiphysics functionalities are often less intuitive hence potential benefits of applying topology optimization are substantial. The presentation will discuss the latest achievements and remaining challenges.