OPTIMIZATION OF MATERIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN ISOTROPIC AND ANISOTROPIC PLATES USING HOMOGENIZATION

The creation of optimum isotropic, single-layered orthotropic and multilayered anisotropic plate topologies was attempted in the present study. Our objective was the minimization of the structural strain energy under volume constraint. The concept of optimal material distribution based on homogenization of a unit microstructure together with sequential linear programming was used to per-form the optimization task. The structural response, computed via a finite element analysis, was calculated using first order shear deformation theory in conjunction with a laminated plate finite element. Isotropic and single-layered orthotropic plates were treated as special cases of multilayered anisotropic laminates, The accuracy of the algorithm developed is demonstrated by means of numerical examples. The optimality of the results obtained was verified by performing structural analysis on different same-volume topologies created according to the algorithmic output and comparing the resulting displacement and stress fields.