An efficient and scalable approach for generating topologically optimized cellular structures for additive manufacturing

This paper presents an end-to-end design process for compliance minimization-based topological optimization of cellular structures through to the realization of a final printed product. Homogenization is used to derive properties representative of these structures through direct numerical simulation of unit cell models. The resulting homogenized properties are then used assuming uniform distribution of the cellular structure to compute the macroscale structure. Results are presented that illustrate the fine-scale stresses developed in the macroscale optimized part as well as the effect that fine-scale structure has on the optimized topology. Finally, a new method is presented for generating an STL representation of the optimized part that is suitable for printing on typical industrial machines. Quite fine cellular structures are shown to be possible using this method. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.