“Design for Discovery: Structural Shape & Topology Optimization in the Age of 3D Printing”

Posted on March 3, 2023 by Clara Tran

Curious about how topology optimization would help achieve a desirable design? Spend an hour with our STEM speaker, Dr. Shikui Chen from the Department of Mechanical Engineering to learn more.

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 7, 2023 from 1pm-2pm
Location: Special Collections Seminar Room, E-2340, second floor of the Melville Library

Topology optimization is a powerful optimization-based method for generating optimal designs without relying on designers’ intuition, experience, or inspiration. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, topology optimization will become increasingly important in the automotive, aerospace, and machine industries. In this presentation, the speaker will provide a brief overview of the state of the art and introduce a level-set-based topology optimization framework. This framework represents the design boundary implicitly as the zero level set of a higher-dimensional level set function, allowing for flexibility in topological changes such as boundary merging or splitting during the design process while maintaining a clear definition of the design boundary. The speaker will then discuss some recent advances in this framework, including the design of magnetic soft robots, the optimal design of the magnets in the wind generators, the integrated design and additive manufacturing of composite mechanical metamaterials, and the conformal topology optimization of structures.

Please register here for this special event.