Topology optimization of 3D shell structures with porous infill

This paper presents a 3D topology optimization approach for designing shell structures with a porous or void interior. It is shown that the resulting structures are significantly more robust towards load perturbations than completely solid structures optimized under the same conditions. The study indicates that the potential benefit of using porous structures is higher for lower total volume fractions.Compared to earlier work dealing with 2D topology optimization, we found several new effects in 3D problems. Most notably, the opportunity for designing closed shells significantly improves the performance of porous structures due to the sandwich effect. Furthermore, the paper introduces improved filter boundary conditions to ensure a completely uniform coating thickness at the design domain boundary.

Electronic properties of SnTe-class topological crystalline insulator materials

The rise of topological insulators in recent years has broken new ground both in the conceptual cognition of condensed matter physics and the promising revolution of the electronic devices.It also stimulates the explorations of more topological states of matter.Topological crystalline insulator is a new topological phase,which combines the electronic topology and crystal symmetry together.In this article,we review the recent progress in the studies of SnTe-class topological crystalline insulator materials.Starting from the topological identifications in the aspects of the bulk topology,surface states calculations,and experimental observations,we present the electronic properties of topological crystalline insulators under various perturbations,including native defect,chemical doping,strain,and thickness-dependent confinement effects,and then discuss their unique quantum transport properties,such as valley-selective filtering and helicity-resolved functionalities for Dirac fermions.The rich properties and high tunability make SnTe-class materials promising candidates for novel quantum devices.

Topological nodal line semimetals

We review the recent,mainly theoretical,progress in the study of topological nodal line semimetals in three dimensions.In these semimetals,the conduction and the valence bands cross each other along a one-dimensional curve in the three-dimensional Brillouin zone,and any perturbation that preserves a certain symmetry group（generated by either spatial symmetries or time-reversal symmetry） cannot remove this crossing line and open a full direct gap between the two bands.The nodal line（s） is hence topologically protected by the symmetry group,and can be associated with a topological invariant.In this review,（ⅰ） we enumerate the symmetry groups that may protect a topological nodal line;（ⅱ） we write down the explicit form of the topological invariant for each of these symmetry groups in terms of the wave functions on the Fermi surface,establishing a topological classification;（ⅲ） for certain classes,we review the proposals for the realization of these semimetals in real materials;（ⅳ） we discuss different scenarios that when the protecting symmetry is broken,how a topological nodal line semimetal becomes Weyl semimetals,Dirac semimetals,and other topological phases;and（ⅴ） we discuss the possible physical effects accessible to experimental probes in these materials.