Abstract: A method is disclosed of providing an optimal minimum mass topology for a structure based on a set of design criteria including at least one support point and at least one force to be applied to the structure. The method includes the steps of: identifying a plurality of nodes within a structure design domain, and assigning an initial density value to said plurality of nodes; conducting a finite element analysis on the nodes; determining one of a stress intensity or strain energy values for each node; ranking the nodes by relative stress intensity or strain energy values; adjusting the density value for each node; and repeating the steps of conducting a finite element analysis on said nodes, wherein the step of adjusting each density value for each node is performed according to a family of statistical distribution functions that gradually transition to a bimodal distribution wherein nodes are either fully dense or effectively void thereby providing an optimal topology.

Abstract: A method is disclosed of providing an optimal minimum mass topology for a structure based on a set of design criteria including at least one support point and at least one force to be applied to the structure. The method includes the steps of: identifying a plurality of nodes within a structure design domain, and assigning an initial density value to said plurality of nodes; conducting a finite element analysis on the nodes; determining one of a stress intensity or strain energy values for each node; ranking the nodes by relative stress intensity or strain energy values; adjusting the density value for each node; and repeating the steps of conducting a finite element analysis on said nodes, wherein the step of adjusting each density value for each node is performed according to a family of statistical distribution functions that gradually transition to a bimodal distribution wherein nodes are either fully dense or effectively void thereby providing an optimal topology.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for providing an optimal topology for a structure based on a set of design criteria including at least one support point and at least one force to be applied to the structure. The method includes the steps of identifying a plurality of nodes within a structure design domain, and assigning an initial density value to the plurality of nodes. The method also includes the steps of conducting a finite element analysis on the nodes, determining a stress intensity value for each node, ranking the nodes by relative stress intensity values, and adjusting the density value for each node. The method also includes the step of repeating the steps of conducting a finite element analysis on the nodes, determining the stress intensity value for each node, ranking the nodes by relative stress intensity values, and adjusting the density value for each node until a termination criteria is realized, thereby providing an optimal topology.