Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 32 |
| Journal | Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 20 Jan 2026 |
Abstract
We integrate compliant mechanisms into our Thermodynamic Topology Optimization framework. By applying Hamilton’s principle we obtain the governing system of equations for both the physical variables and the design variable, all derived from a single Hamilton functional. In this context, the Helmholtz free energy is modeled by using Betti’s reciprocal theorem taking into account two load cases. The first load case defines the acting force, while the second load case determines the location where displacement should be maximized. Since a pure SIMP approach results in large intermediate material regions, we introduce a smoothed Heaviside function in order to enforce binary material states. As a consequence, the topology develops one-node connections. To prevent this, we propose a simple but effective multi-objective approach for their avoidance.
Keywords
- Compliant mechanisms, Multi-objective, Topology optimization, Variational calculus
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Computer Science(all)
- Software
- Engineering(all)
- Control and Systems Engineering
- Computer Science(all)
- Computer Science Applications
- Computer Science(all)
- Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
- Mathematics(all)
- Control and Optimization
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In: Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, Vol. 69, No. 2, 32, 20.01.2026.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Thermodynamic Topology Optimization of compliant mechanisms including a multi-objective approach to prevent one-node connections
AU - Wolf, Sebastian
AU - Jantos, Dustin R.
AU - Junker, Philipp
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2026.
PY - 2026/1/20
Y1 - 2026/1/20
N2 - We integrate compliant mechanisms into our Thermodynamic Topology Optimization framework. By applying Hamilton’s principle we obtain the governing system of equations for both the physical variables and the design variable, all derived from a single Hamilton functional. In this context, the Helmholtz free energy is modeled by using Betti’s reciprocal theorem taking into account two load cases. The first load case defines the acting force, while the second load case determines the location where displacement should be maximized. Since a pure SIMP approach results in large intermediate material regions, we introduce a smoothed Heaviside function in order to enforce binary material states. As a consequence, the topology develops one-node connections. To prevent this, we propose a simple but effective multi-objective approach for their avoidance.
AB - We integrate compliant mechanisms into our Thermodynamic Topology Optimization framework. By applying Hamilton’s principle we obtain the governing system of equations for both the physical variables and the design variable, all derived from a single Hamilton functional. In this context, the Helmholtz free energy is modeled by using Betti’s reciprocal theorem taking into account two load cases. The first load case defines the acting force, while the second load case determines the location where displacement should be maximized. Since a pure SIMP approach results in large intermediate material regions, we introduce a smoothed Heaviside function in order to enforce binary material states. As a consequence, the topology develops one-node connections. To prevent this, we propose a simple but effective multi-objective approach for their avoidance.
KW - Compliant mechanisms
KW - Multi-objective
KW - Topology optimization
KW - Variational calculus
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105028068375&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00158-025-04193-7
DO - 10.1007/s00158-025-04193-7
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105028068375
VL - 69
JO - Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization
JF - Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization
SN - 1615-147X
IS - 2
M1 - 32
ER -