Design Tool for Topological Optimization of Air-Platform Structural Components made by Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM) has provided unprecedented freedom for manufacturing components with tailored geometry and properties and has created the potential for production of designs that were infeasible given conventional manufacturing techniques. Topology optimization provides a method for optimizing the morphology of a component in order to provide maximum performance (e.g. stiffness) for a given amount of material to reduce weight a cost. Tailoring a topology optimization paradigm for additive manufacturing of metallic components requires accounting for the unique material properties and microstructures of AM parts, as well as explicitly accounting for manufacturability constraints, distortion, and residual stresses, which are a function of geometry and AM parameters. Taking all of this into consideration, MRL's proposed Topology Optimization for Additive Manufacturing (TOAM) will encompass material and process agnostic optimization for structural design to minimize weight and maximize static and dynamic performance by leveraging the unique capabilities of metallic AM under a variety of applied and aerodynamic loading conditions.