Free Shape Optimal Design of Structures

Abstract

Actual trends in numerical shape optimal design of structures deal with handling of very large dimensions of design space. The goal is to allowing as much design freedom as possible while considerably reducing the modeling effort. As a consequence, several technical problems have to be solved to get procedures which are robust, easy to use and which can handle many design parameters efficiently. The paper briefly discusses several of the most important aspects in this context and presents many illustrative examples which show typical applications for the design of light weight shell and membrane structures.