Topology, Size, and Shape Optimization in Civil Engineering Structures: A Review

The optimization of civil engineering structures is critical for enhancing structural performance and material efficiency in engineering applications.Structural optimization approaches seek to determine the optimal design,by considering material performance,cost,and structural safety.The design approaches aim to reduce the built environment’s energy use and carbon emissions.This comprehensive review examines optimization techniques,including size,shape,topology,and multi-objective approaches,by integrating these methodologies.The trends and advancements that contribute to developing more efficient,cost-effective,and reliable structural designs were identified.The review also discusses emerging technologies,such as machine learning applications with different optimization techniques.Optimization of truss,frame,tensegrity,reinforced concrete,origami,pantographic,and adaptive structures are covered and discussed.Optimization techniques are explained,including metaheuristics,genetic algorithm,particle swarm,ant-colony,harmony search algorithm,and their applications with mentioned structure types.Linear and non-linear structures,including geometric and material nonlinearity,are distinguished.The role of optimization in active structures,structural design,seismic design,form-finding,and structural control is taken into account,and the most recent techniques and advancements are mentioned.

Pore-scale investigation of forced imbibition in porous rocks through interface curvature and pore topology analysis

Forced imbibition,the invasion of a wetting fluid into porous rocks,plays an important role in the effective exploitation of hydrocarbon resources and the geological sequestration of carbon dioxide.However,the interface dynamics influenced by complex topology commonly leads to non-wetting fluid trapping.Particularly,the underlying mechanisms under viscously unfavorable conditions remain unclear.This study employs a direct numerical simulation method to simulate forced imbibition through the reconstructed digital rocks of sandstone.The interface dynamics and fluid–fluid interactions are investigated through transient simulations,while the pore topology metrics are introduced to analyze the impact on steady-state residual fluid distribution obtained by a pseudo-transient scheme.The results show that the cooperative pore-filling process promoted by corner flow is dominant at low capillary numbers.This leads to unstable inlet pressure,mass flow,and interface curvature,which correspond to complicated interface dynamics and higher residual fluid saturation.During forced imbibition,the interface curvature gradually increases,with the pore-filling mechanisms involving the cooperation of main terminal meniscus movement and arc menisci filling.Complex topology with small diameter pores may result in the destabilization of interface curvature.The residual fluid saturation is negatively correlated with porosity and pore throat size,and positively correlated with tortuosity and aspect ratio.A large mean coordination number characterizing global connectivity promotes imbibition.However,high connectivity characterized by the standardized Euler number corresponding to small pores is associated with a high probability of non-wetting fluid trapping.

GPU-Enabled Isogometric Topology Optimization with Bezier Element Stiffness Mapping

Due to the high-order B-spline basis functions utilized in isogeometric analysis(IGA)and the repeatedly updating global stiffness matrix of topology optimization,Isogeometric topology optimization(ITO)intrinsically suffers from the computationally demanding process.In this work,we address the efficiency problem existing in the assembling stiffness matrix and sensitivity analysis using B˙ezier element stiffness mapping.The Element-wise and Interaction-wise parallel computing frameworks for updating the global stiffness matrix are proposed for ITO with B˙ezier element stiffness mapping,which differs from these ones with the traditional Gaussian integrals utilized.Since the explicit stiffness computation formula derived from B˙ezier element stiffness mapping possesses a typical parallel structure,the presented GPU-enabled ITO method can greatly accelerate the computation speed while maintaining its high memory efficiency unaltered.Numerical examples demonstrate threefold speedup:1)the assembling stiffness matrix is accelerated by 10×maximumly with the proposed GPU strategy;2)the solution efficiency of a sparse linear system is enhanced by up to 30×with Eigen replaced by AMGCL;3)the efficiency of sensitivity analysis is promoted by 100×with GPU applied.Therefore,the proposed method is a promising way to enhance the numerical efficiency of ITO for both single-patch and multiple-patch design problems.

Topology Data Analysis-Based Error Detection for Semantic Image Transmission with Incremental Knowledge-Based HARQ

Semantic communication(SemCom)aims to achieve high-fidelity information delivery under low communication consumption by only guaranteeing semantic accuracy.Nevertheless,semantic communication still suffers from unexpected channel volatility and thus developing a re-transmission mechanism(e.g.,hybrid automatic repeat request[HARQ])becomes indispensable.In that regard,instead of discarding previously transmitted information,the incremental knowledge-based HARQ(IK-HARQ)is deemed as a more effective mechanism that could sufficiently utilize the information semantics.However,considering the possible existence of semantic ambiguity in image transmission,a simple bit-level cyclic redundancy check(CRC)might compromise the performance of IK-HARQ.Therefore,there emerges a strong incentive to revolutionize the CRC mechanism,thus more effectively reaping the benefits of both SemCom and HARQ.In this paper,built on top of swin transformer-based joint source-channel coding(JSCC)and IK-HARQ,we propose a semantic image transmission framework SC-TDA-HARQ.In particular,different from the conventional CRC,we introduce a topological data analysis(TDA)-based error detection method,which capably digs out the inner topological and geometric information of images,to capture semantic information and determine the necessity for re-transmission.Extensive numerical results validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed SC-TDA-HARQ framework,especially under the limited bandwidth condition,and manifest the superiority of TDA-based error detection method in image transmission.

Web Layout Design of Large Cavity Structures Based on Topology Optimization

Large cavity structures are widely employed in aerospace engineering, such as thin-walled cylinders, blades andwings. Enhancing performance of aerial vehicles while reducing manufacturing costs and fuel consumptionhas become a focal point for contemporary researchers. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the topologyoptimization of large cavity structures as a means to enhance their performance, safety, and efficiency. By usingthe variable density method, lightweight design is achieved without compromising structural strength. Theoptimization model considers both concentrated and distributed loads, and utilizes techniques like sensitivityfiltering and projection to obtain a robust optimized configuration. The mechanical properties are checked bycomparing the stress distribution and displacement of the unoptimized and optimized structures under the sameload. The results confirm that the optimized structures exhibit improved mechanical properties, thus offering keyinsights for engineering lightweight, high-strength large cavity structures.

Multi-Material Topology Optimization for Spatial-Varying Porous Structures

This paper aims to propose a topology optimization method on generating porous structures comprising multiple materials.The mathematical optimization formulation is established under the constraints of individual volume fraction of constituent phase or total mass,as well as the local volume fraction of all phases.The original optimization problem with numerous constraints is converted into a box-constrained optimization problem by incorporating all constraints to the augmented Lagrangian function,avoiding the parameter dependence in the conventional aggregation process.Furthermore,the local volume percentage can be precisely satisfied.The effects including the globalmass bound,the influence radius and local volume percentage on final designs are exploited through numerical examples.The numerical results also reveal that porous structures keep a balance between the bulk design and periodic design in terms of the resulting compliance.All results,including those for irregular structures andmultiple volume fraction constraints,demonstrate that the proposedmethod can provide an efficient solution for multiple material infill structures.

Attribute Reduction on Decision Tables Based on Hausdorff Topology

Attribute reduction through the combined approach of Rough Sets(RS)and algebraic topology is an open research topic with significant potential for applications.Several research works have introduced a strong relationship between RS and topology spaces for the attribute reduction problem.However,the mentioned recent methods followed a strategy to construct a new measure for attribute selection.Meanwhile,the strategy for searching for the reduct is still to select each attribute and gradually add it to the reduct.Consequently,those methods tended to be inefficient for high-dimensional datasets.To overcome these challenges,we use the separability property of Hausdorff topology to quickly identify distinguishable attributes,this approach significantly reduces the time for the attribute filtering stage of the algorithm.In addition,we propose the concept of Hausdorff topological homomorphism to construct candidate reducts,this method significantly reduces the number of candidate reducts for the wrapper stage of the algorithm.These are the two main stages that have the most effect on reducing computing time for the attribute reduction of the proposed algorithm,which we call the Cluster Filter Wrapper algorithm based on Hausdorff Topology.Experimental validation on the UCI Machine Learning Repository Data shows that the proposed method achieves efficiency in both the execution time and the size of the reduct.

Interplay between topology and localization on superconducting circuits

Topological insulators occupy a prominent position in the realm of condensed matter physics. Nevertheless, the presence of strong disorder has the potential to disrupt the integrity of topological states, leading to the localization of all states.This study delves into the intricate interplay between topology and localization within the one-dimensional Su–Schrieffer–Heeger(SSH) model, which incorporates controllable off-diagonal quasi-periodic modulations on superconducting circuits.Through the application of external alternating current(ac) magnetic fluxes, each transmon undergoes controlled driving,enabling independent tuning of all coupling strengths. Within a framework of this model, we construct comprehensive phase diagrams delineating regions characterized by extended topologically nontrivial states, critical localization, and coexisting topological and critical localization phases. The paper also addresses the dynamics of qubit excitations, elucidating distinct quantum state transfers resulting from the intricate interplay between topology and localization. Additionally, we propose a method for detecting diverse quantum phases utilizing existing experimental setups.

Ballistic performance of additive manufacturing 316l stainless steel projectiles based on topology optimization method

Material and structure made by additive manufacturing(AM)have received much attention lately due to their flexibility and ability to customize complex structures.This study first implements multiple objective topology optimization simulations based on a projectile perforation model,and a new topologic projectile is obtained.Then two types of 316L stainless steel projectiles(the solid and the topology)are printed in a selective laser melt(SLM)machine to evaluate the penetration performance of the projectiles by the ballistic test.The experiment results show that the dimensionless specific kinetic energy value of topologic projectiles is higher than that of solid projectiles,indicating the better penetration ability of the topologic projectiles.Finally,microscopic studies(scanning electron microscope and X-ray micro-CT)are performed on the remaining projectiles to investigate the failure mechanism of the internal structure of the topologic projectiles.An explicit dynamics simulation was also performed,and the failure locations of the residual topologic projectiles were in good agreement with the experimental results,which can better guide the design of new projectiles combining AM and topology optimization in the future.

Feature Matching via Topology-Aware Graph Interaction Model

Feature matching plays a key role in computer vision. However, due to the limitations of the descriptors, the putative matches are inevitably contaminated by massive outliers.This paper attempts to tackle the outlier filtering problem from two aspects. First, a robust and efficient graph interaction model,is proposed, with the assumption that matches are correlated with each other rather than independently distributed. To this end, we construct a graph based on the local relationships of matches and formulate the outlier filtering task as a binary labeling energy minimization problem, where the pairwise term encodes the interaction between matches. We further show that this formulation can be solved globally by graph cut algorithm. Our new formulation always improves the performance of previous localitybased method without noticeable deterioration in processing time,adding a few milliseconds. Second, to construct a better graph structure, a robust and geometrically meaningful topology-aware relationship is developed to capture the topology relationship between matches. The two components in sum lead to topology interaction matching(TIM), an effective and efficient method for outlier filtering. Extensive experiments on several large and diverse datasets for multiple vision tasks including general feature matching, as well as relative pose estimation, homography and fundamental matrix estimation, loop-closure detection, and multi-modal image matching, demonstrate that our TIM is more competitive than current state-of-the-art methods, in terms of generality, efficiency, and effectiveness. The source code is publicly available at http://github.com/YifanLu2000/TIM.

Topology Optimization of Two Fluid Heat Transfer Problems for Heat Exchanger Design

Topology optimization of thermal-fluid coupling problems has received widespread attention.This article proposes a novel topology optimization method for laminar two-fluid heat exchanger design.The proposed method utilizes an artificial density field to create two permeability interpolation functions that exhibit opposing trends,ensuring separation between the two fluid domains.Additionally,a Gaussian function is employed to construct an interpolation function for the thermal conductivity coefficient.Furthermore,a computational program has been developed on the OpenFOAM platform for the topology optimization of two-fluid heat exchangers.This program leverages parallel computing,significantly reducing the time required for the topology optimization process.To enhance computational speed and reduce the number of constraint conditions,we replaced the conventional pressure drop constraint condition in the optimization problem with a pressure inlet/outlet boundary condition.The 3D optimization results demonstrate the characteristic features of a surface structure,providing valuable guidance for designing heat exchangers that achieve high heat exchange efficiency while minimizing excessive pressure loss.At the same time,a new structure appears in large-scale topology optimization,which proves the effectiveness and stability of the topology optimization program written in this paper in large-scale calculation.

Probabilistic-Ellipsoid Hybrid Reliability Multi-Material Topology Optimization Method Based on Stress Constraint

This paper proposes a multi-material topology optimization method based on the hybrid reliability of the probability-ellipsoid model with stress constraint for the stochastic uncertainty and epistemic uncertainty of mechanical loads in optimization design.The probabilistic model is combined with the ellipsoidal model to describe the uncertainty of mechanical loads.The topology optimization formula is combined with the ordered solid isotropic material with penalization(ordered-SIMP)multi-material interpolation model.The stresses of all elements are integrated into a global stress measurement that approximates the maximum stress using the normalized p-norm function.Furthermore,the sequential optimization and reliability assessment(SORA)is applied to transform the original uncertainty optimization problem into an equivalent deterministic topology optimization(DTO)problem.Stochastic response surface and sparse grid technique are combined with SORA to get accurate information on the most probable failure point(MPP).In each cycle,the equivalent topology optimization formula is updated according to the MPP information obtained in the previous cycle.The adjoint variable method is used for deriving the sensitivity of the stress constraint and the moving asymptote method(MMA)is used to update design variables.Finally,the validity and feasibility of the method are verified by the numerical example of L-shape beam design,T-shape structure design,steering knuckle,and 3D T-shaped beam.

A non-probabilistic reliability topology optimization method based on aggregation function and matrix multiplication considering buckling response constraints

A non-probabilistic reliability topology optimization method is proposed based on the aggregation function and matrix multiplication.The expression of the geometric stiffness matrix is derived,the finite element linear buckling analysis is conducted,and the sensitivity solution of the linear buckling factor is achieved.For a specific problem in linear buckling topology optimization,a Heaviside projection function based on the exponential smooth growth is developed to eliminate the gray cells.The aggregation function method is used to consider the high-order eigenvalues,so as to obtain continuous sensitivity information and refined structural design.With cyclic matrix programming,a fast topology optimization method that can be used to efficiently obtain the unit assembly and sensitivity solution is conducted.To maximize the buckling load,under the constraint of the given buckling load,two types of topological optimization columns are constructed.The variable density method is used to achieve the topology optimization solution along with the moving asymptote optimization algorithm.The vertex method and the matching point method are used to carry out an uncertainty propagation analysis,and the non-probability reliability topology optimization method considering buckling responses is developed based on the transformation of non-probability reliability indices based on the characteristic distance.Finally,the differences in the structural topology optimization under different reliability degrees are illustrated by examples.

Relationship between disorder,magnetism and band topology in Mn(Sb_(1-x)Bi_(x))_(2)Te_(4) single crystals

We investigate the evolution of magnetic properties as well as the content and distribution of Mn for Mn(Sb_(1-x)Bi_(x))_(2)Te_(4) single crystals grown by large-temperature-gradient chemical vapor transport method.It is found that the ferromagnetic MnSb_(2)Te_(4) changes to antiferromagnetism with Bi doping when x≥0.25.Further analysis implies that the occupations of Mn ions at Sb/Bi site Mn_(Sb/Bi) and Mn site Mn_(Mn) have a strong influence on the magnetic ground states of these systems.With the decrease of Mn_(Mn) increase of Mn_(Sb/Bi),the system will favor the ferromagnetic ground state.In addition,the rapid decrease of T_(C/N) with increasing Bi content when x ≤0.25 and the insensitivity of T_(N) to x when x> 0.25 suggest that the main magnetic interaction may change from the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida type at low Bi doping region to the van-Vleck type in high Bi doped samples.

Dynamic Resistance and Energy Absorption of Sandwich Beam via a Micro-Topology Optimization

The current research of sandwich structures under dynamic loading mainly focus on the response characteristic of structure.The micro-topology of core layers would sufficiently influence the property of sandwich structure.However,the micro deformation and topology mechanism of structural deformation and energy absorption are unclear.In this paper,based on the bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization method and periodic base cell(PBC)technology,a topology optimization frame work is proposed to optimize the core layer of sandwich beams.The objective of the present optimization problem is to maximize shear stiffness of PBC with a volume constraint.The effects of the volume fraction,filter radius,and initial PBC aspect ratio on the micro-topology of the core were discussed.The dynamic response process,core compression,and energy absorption capacity of the sandwich beams under blast impact loading were analyzed by the finite element method.The results demonstrated that the overpressure action stage was coupled with the core compression stage.Under the same loading and mass per unit area,the sandwich beam with a 20%volume fraction core layer had the best blast resistance.The filter radius has a slight effect on the shear stiffness and blast resistances of the sandwich beams.But increasing the filter radius could slightly improve the bending stiffness.Upon changing the initial PBC aspect ratio,there are three ways for PBC evolution:The first is to change the angle between the adjacent bars,the second is to further form holes in the bars,and the third is to combine the first two ways.However,not all three ways can improve the energy absorption capacity of the structure.Changing the aspect ratio of the PBC arbitrarily may lead to worse results.More studies are necessary for further detailed optimization.This research proposes a new topology sandwich beam structure by micro-topology optimization,which has sufficient shear stiffness.The micro mechanism of structural energy absorption is clarified,it is significant for structural energy absorption design.

A stepwise optimization method for topology structure of fluid machinery network

The circulating water system is widely used as the cooling system in the process industry,which has the characteristics of high water and power consumption,and its energy consumption level has an important impact on the economic performance of the whole system.Pump network and water turbine network constitute the work network of the circulating water system,that is,the fluid machinery network.Based on the previous studies,this paper proposes a stepwise method to optimize the fluid machinery network,that is,to optimize the network structure by using the recoverable pressure-head curve of the branch,and consider the recovery of adjustable resistance at the valve of each branch,so as to further reduce energy consumption and water consumption.The calculation result of the case shows that the topology structure optimization can further reduce the operation cost and the annual capital cost on the basis of the fixed structure optimization,and the total annualized cost can be reduced by 30.04%.The optimization result of different flow shows that both the pump network and the water turbine network tend to series structure at a low flow rate whereas to parallel structure at a high flow rate.

Multi-Material Topology Optimization of 2D Structures Using Convolutional Neural Networks

In recent years,there has been significant research on the application of deep learning(DL)in topology optimization(TO)to accelerate structural design.However,these methods have primarily focused on solving binary TO problems,and effective solutions for multi-material topology optimization(MMTO)which requires a lot of computing resources are still lacking.Therefore,this paper proposes the framework of multiphase topology optimization using deep learning to accelerate MMTO design.The framework employs convolutional neural network(CNN)to construct a surrogate model for solving MMTO,and the obtained surrogate model can rapidly generate multi-material structure topologies in negligible time without any iterations.The performance evaluation results show that the proposed method not only outputs multi-material topologies with clear material boundary but also reduces the calculation cost with high prediction accuracy.Additionally,in order to find a more reasonable modeling method for MMTO,this paper studies the characteristics of surrogate modeling as regression task and classification task.Through the training of 297 models,our findings show that the regression task yields slightly better results than the classification task in most cases.Furthermore,The results indicate that the prediction accuracy is primarily influenced by factors such as the TO problem,material category,and data scale.Conversely,factors such as the domain size and the material property have minimal impact on the accuracy.

A Subdivision-Based Combined Shape and Topology Optimization in Acoustics

We propose a combined shape and topology optimization approach in this research for 3D acoustics by using the isogeometric boundary element method with subdivision surfaces.The existing structural optimization methods mainly contain shape and topology schemes,with the former changing the surface geometric profile of the structure and the latter changing thematerial distribution topology or hole topology of the structure.In the present acoustic performance optimization,the coordinates of the control points in the subdivision surfaces fine mesh are selected as the shape design parameters of the structure,the artificial density of the sound absorbing material covered on the structure surface is set as the topology design parameter,and the combined topology and shape optimization approach is established through the sound field analysis of the subdivision surfaces boundary element method as a bridge.The topology and shape sensitivities of the approach are calculated using the adjoint variable method,which ensures the efficiency of the optimization.The geometric jaggedness and material distribution discontinuities that appear in the optimization process are overcome to a certain degree by the multiresolution method and solid isotropic material with penalization.Numerical examples are given to validate the effectiveness of the presented optimization approach.

Topology Optimization of Metamaterial Microstructures for Negative Poisson’s Ratio under Large Deformation Using a Gradient-Free Method

Negative Poisson’s ratio(NPR)metamaterials are attractive for their unique mechanical behaviors and potential applications in deformation control and energy absorption.However,when subjected to significant stretching,NPR metamaterials designed under small strain assumption may experience a rapid degradation in NPR performance.To address this issue,this study aims to design metamaterials maintaining a targeted NPR under large deformation by taking advantage of the geometry nonlinearity mechanism.A representative periodic unit cell is modeled considering geometry nonlinearity,and its topology is designed using a gradient-free method.The unit cell microstructural topologies are described with the material-field series-expansion(MFSE)method.The MFSE method assumes spatial correlation of the material distribution,which greatly reduces the number of required design variables.To conveniently design metamaterials with desired NPR under large deformation,we propose a two-stage gradient-free metamaterial topology optimization method,which fully takes advantage of the dimension reduction benefits of the MFSE method and the Kriging surrogate model technique.Initially,we use homogenization to find a preliminary NPR design under a small deformation assumption.In the second stage,we begin with this preliminary design and minimize deviations in NPR from a targeted value under large deformation.Using this strategy and solution technique,we successfully obtain a group of NPR metamaterials that can sustain different desired NPRs in the range of[−0.8,−0.1]under uniaxial stretching up to 20% strain.Furthermore,typical microstructure designs are fabricated and tested through experiments.The experimental results show good consistency with our numerical results,demonstrating the effectiveness of the present gradientfree NPR metamaterial design strategy.

Full-Scale Isogeometric Topology Optimization of Cellular Structures Based on Kirchhoff-Love Shells

Cellular thin-shell structures are widely applied in ultralightweight designs due to their high bearing capacity and strength-to-weight ratio.In this paper,a full-scale isogeometric topology optimization(ITO)method based on Kirchhoff-Love shells for designing cellular tshin-shell structures with excellent damage tolerance ability is proposed.This method utilizes high-order continuous nonuniform rational B-splines(NURBS)as basis functions for Kirchhoff-Love shell elements.The geometric and analysis models of thin shells are unified by isogeometric analysis(IGA)to avoid geometric approximation error and improve computational accuracy.The topological configurations of thin-shell structures are described by constructing the effective density field on the controlmesh.Local volume constraints are imposed in the proximity of each control point to obtain bone-like cellular structures.To facilitate numerical implementation,the p-norm function is used to aggregate local volume constraints into an equivalent global constraint.Several numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.After simulation and comparative analysis,the results indicate that the cellular thin-shell structures optimized by the proposed method exhibit great load-carrying behavior and high damage robustness.