Advisory Committee Chair
Muhammed M Sherif
Advisory Committee Members
Nasim Uddin
Christoper Waldron
Haibin Ning
Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2021
Degree Name by School
Master of Science in Civil Engineering (MSCE) School of Engineering
Abstract
Traditional structures consume large amounts of raw materials including cementitiouscomposites and steel, which subsequently contribute to the increase in greenhouse gases. Furthermore, the recycling process of construction materials is challenging due to high cost and complex processes that involve crushing of concrete and melting of steel to the required composition. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the materials used as well as the structural geometry to achieve maximum efficiency (i.e., demand/capacity) and decrease the carbon footprint of structures. The development of sustainable structures and eco-friendly infrastructures aims to minimize materials and energy consumption without impeding the overall performance. Also, an optimized design will lead to a reduction in the total construction cost. Over the past few decades, researchers have investigated the use of topology optimization to achieve the required strength of a component by optimizing its shape given a specific load. Topology optimization is a mathematical method that seeks to optimize material layout within a specified design domain for a given set of boundary conditions and applied loads to achieve an efficient structure. Structural topology optimization can be classified into three categories including shape optimization, size optimization, and topology optimization. Size optimization usually deals with finding optimized cross-sectional geometric properties of a member. Shape optimization seeks optimal shapes of a material domain without altering its topology; while topology optimization is an optimization technique that considers both size and shape in obtaining an optimal design. The methodologies for topology optimization include Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization (SIMP), and Evolutionary Topology Optimization (ETO). Both methodologies are based on the material distribution concept. In addition, the Level Set Method (LSM), is based on an implicit boundary description which is applied to track displacement and motions of the boundaries of a structure. Due to the computational requirements of topology optimization algorithms, it is usual to limit the optimization problem on a small structure that is subjected to a static load. In this research, a comparison of the three topology optimization methodologies will be presented for simple problem of a simply supported beam subjected to a point load.
Recommended Citation
Okai, Nicholas Yaw Asare, "Comprehensive Review And A Comparison Of Compliance Based Topology Optimization For Simply Supported Beams" (2021). All ETDs from UAB. 880.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/880