Real-world structural optimisation problems involve multiple loading conditions and design constraints, with responses typically depending on states of discretised governing equations. Generally, one uses gradient-based nested analysis and design approaches to solve these problems. Herein, solving both physical and adjoint problems dominates the overall computational effort. Although not commonly detected, real-world problems can contain linear dependencies between encountered physical and adjoint loads. Manually keeping track of such dependencies becomes tedious as design problems become increasingly involved. This work proposes using a Linear Dependency Aware Solver (LDAS) to detect and exploit such dependencies. The proposed algorithm can efficiently detect linear dependencies between all loads and obtain the exact solution while avoiding unnecessary solves entirely and automatically. Illustrative examples demonstrate the need and benefits of using an LDAS, including a run-time experiment.

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The stringent and conflicting requirements imposed on optomechanical instruments and the ever-increasing need for higher resolution and quality imagery demands a tightly integrated system design approach. Our aim is to drive the thermomechanical design of multiple components through the optical performance of the complete system. To this end, we propose a new method combining structural-thermal-optical performance analysis and topology optimization while taking into account both component and system level constraints. A 2D two-mirror example demonstrates that the proposed approach is able to improve the system’s spot size error by 95% compared to uncoupled system optimization while satisfying equivalent constraints.

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The design of high performance instruments often involves the attenuation of poorly damped resonant modes. Current design practices typically rely on informed trial and error based modifications to improve dynamic performance. In this article, a multi-material topology optimization approach is presented as a systematic methodology to develop structures with optimal damping characteristics. The proposed method applies a multi-material, parametric, level set-based topology optimization to simultaneously distribute structural and viscoelastic material to optimize damping characteristics. The viscoelastic behavior is represented by a complex-valued material modulus resulting in a complex-valued eigenvalue problem. The structural loss factor is used as objective function during the optimization and is calculated using the complex-valued eigenmodes. An adjoint sensitivity analysis is presented that provides an analytical expression for the corresponding sensitivities. Multiple numerical examples are treated to illustrate the effectiveness of the approach and the influence of different viscoelastic material models on the optimized designs is studied. The optimization routine is able to generate designs for a number of eigenmodes and to attenuate a resonant mode of an existing structure.@en

Design of transient thermo-mechanical systems is a challenging task often encountered during the design of high precision machines and instrumentation. Topology optimization can provide valuable insight during the design process, however, for large scale problems the backward time integration required to obtain adjoint sensitivity information is undesired. Previous work has illustrated how the introduction of a reduced modal basis allows to eliminate the backward time integration to obtain the adjoint variables. In order to reduce computational effort further, additional reduction approaches are considered. The focus is specifically on design cases where the relevant heat loads can be expressed or approximated analytically by combinations of harmonic, polynomial or exponential functions of time. Using the method of undetermined coefficients, an exact particular solution is obtained using the full system. Then, the corresponding homogenous solution is expressed using a reduced modal basis, for which a relatively small set of modes is required to obtain an accurate approximation. For the cases where the time component of the heat loads are expressed by the considered analytical functions, the backward time integration is eliminated from the calculation of the design sensitivities, while the forward integration is handled by convolutions.@en

The design of high performance instruments often involves the attenuation of poorly damped resonant modes. Current design methods typically rely on informed trial and error based modifications to improve dynamic performance. In this contribution, we present a multi-material topology optimization as an alternative, systematic methodology to design structures with optimized damping characteristics. A parametric, level set-based topology optimization is employed to simultaneously distribute structural and viscoelastic material to optimize the structure’s damping characteristics. To model the viscoelastic behavior a complex-valued material modulus is applied. The structural loss factor is determined from the complex-valued eigensolutions and its value is maximized during the optimization. We demonstrate the performance of the optimization by maximizing the damping of a cantilever beam.@en