Part consolidation for additive manufacturing: A multilayered topology optimization approach

Part consolidation (PC) is becoming a viable cost savings approach due to the increased design freedom associated with industry adoption of additive manufacturing. However, there is little research focused on mathematical approaches for assembly level design generation, with most work aimed at providing best practices for merging several parts into one. This article presents a novel topology optimization approach to PC that determines the ideal number of parts, their geometry, and optimal joining pattern, without bias towards the original assembly. Multiple layered design domains are created, and a joining domain that determines the connections between parts is introduced. A multiobjective problem statement optimizes the complex trade-off between compliance, support structure volume, surface area, and number of joints, to minimize the total cost of the final assembly. Design variable initialization and boundary condition placement are discussed for problems with multiple domains. Three test cases are presented and solved for a range of cost trade-offs to demonstrate optimized solutions as design objectives are varied.