Investigation of the potential of topology optimization in additive manufacturing using the example of components subject to bending stress

Abstract

In this application-oriented work, we examine the performance of topology-optimized structures as compared to the reference I-beam. We make use of the thermodynamic topology optimization based on a linear elastic compliance minimization, i. e. minimization of the elastic strain energy of the whole structure. We investigate, how the optimization of the rather theoretical strain energy influences the efficiency of more practical measurements, i. e. the force-displacement response at the loading points and the maximum tolerable force. For this purpose, starting from a cuboid design space with the boundary conditions of a 3-point and 4-point bending stress, the geometry with constant volume was optimized. The topology-optimized bending beams were subsequently produced by stereolithography and mechanically tested with respect to the previously defined boundary conditions. In order to avoid a falsification of results due to internal sample defects, all samples were previously examined with the aid of computer tomography with regard to the defects in the volume. As a general result, the topology-optimized bending beams can bear a higher load in the experiment, which shows the usefulness of the coupling of additive manufacturing and topology optimization methods without any special constraints or enhancements regarding the manufacturing process within the optimization.