Topology optimization with multiple materials via moving morphable component (MMC) method

TLDR

Additive manufacturing has spurred growing interest in multi‑material topology optimization, yet conventional implicit methods such as SIMP or level‑set introduce many design variables, especially in 3‑D problems. This paper proposes a novel multi‑material topology optimization strategy based on the Moving Morphable Component framework. The MMC approach replaces material density fields with explicit geometric components, dramatically reducing the number of design variables and degrees of freedom. Results on numerical examples show that the MMC method achieves comparable or superior designs while using far fewer variables and degrees of freedom.

Abstract

Summary With the fast development of additive manufacturing technology, topology optimization involving multiple materials has received ever increasing attention. Traditionally, this kind of optimization problem is solved within the implicit solution framework by using the Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization or level set method. This treatment, however, will inevitably lead to a large number of design variables especially when many types of materials are involved and 3‐dimensional (3D) problems are considered. This is because for each type of material, a corresponding density field/level function defined on the entire design domain must be introduced to describe its distribution. In the present paper, a novel approach for topology optimization with multiple materials is established based on the Moving Morphable Component framework. With use of this approach, topology optimization problems with multiple materials can be solved with much less numbers of design variables and degrees of freedom. Numerical examples provided demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.