A Mini Review on Fluid Topology Optimization

Area of Science:

• Engineering
• Computational Fluid Dynamics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Topology optimization is crucial for high-performance fluid applications like aircraft components and microfluidic mixers.
• The density-based approach is widely used for its simplicity, robustness, and ease of implementation in structural design.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively review technical progress in topology optimization for fluid-related applications over the last decade.
• To analyze advancements from the perspective of structural expression, focusing on boundary smoothness and computational efficiency.

Main Methods:

• Review of density-based topology optimization for various fluid flows: Stokes, laminar Navier-Stokes, turbulent, non-Newtonian, and unsteady-state.
• Discussion of isogeometric analysis (IGA) and moving morphable components/voids (MMC/MMV) methods for CAD integration and reduced computational cost.
• Concentration on level set and spline expression methods for achieving smoother boundaries and lower energy dissipation.

Main Results:

• Density-based methods are effective across a wide range of fluid flow regimes.
• IGA and MMC/MMV methods offer significant advantages in design integration and computational efficiency.
• Smoother boundaries, achieved through level set and spline methods, show potential for further reducing energy dissipation.

Conclusions:

• Topology optimization, particularly density-based methods, has seen substantial progress in fluid applications.
• Isogeometric analysis and machine learning are identified as key future directions for the field.
• Challenges remain in accurate fluid model construction and experimental validation of optimized designs.