Vademecum-based approach to multi-scale topological material design

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Computational Mechanics
• Structural Optimization

Background:

• Designing structural materials requires optimizing microstructures to achieve desired macro-scale mechanical properties.
• Classical topological optimization methods often struggle with the complexity of multi-scale material design.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an efficient computational method for designing structural materials with optimized microstructures.
• To minimize structural compliance at the macro-scale by designing the micro-scale material distribution.

Main Methods:

• A coupled two-scale (macro/micro) optimization problem is formulated, linking macro-scale stiffness to micro-scale topology.
• A computational material catalog (Computational Vademecum) of pre-optimized microstructures is employed to reduce computational expense.
• The approach combines computational homogenization and topological optimization techniques.

Main Results:

• The proposed two-scale optimization framework effectively designs microstructures for enhanced macro-scale material properties.
• Utilizing a computational material catalog drastically reduces the computational cost of the multi-scale design process.
• The methodology proves affordable and efficient for computational material design.

Conclusions:

• The developed computational approach offers an efficient and cost-effective solution for designing advanced structural materials.
• The integration of a material catalog is key to making complex multi-scale material design computationally feasible.