Technique of considering the material anisotropy in topology optimization of short fibers composite structures

Abstract

The use of composite materials in the aerospace industry has been increasing in the past 20 years. The application of short fiber reinforced composite as materials for aerospace components can solve the delamination problem by substituting the laminates, reduce the weight and the cost of the component. The design of short fiber reinforced composite structures requires obtaining the optimal structure geometry which is a function of the injection molding process. The novelty of this work is the development of a topology optimization algorithm that considers the material anisotropy by simulating the injection molding process at intermediate steps of topology optimization on a reduced mesh of the design area. It is shown that the consideration of the material anisotropy within topology optimization leads to a susceptible change in the topology of the structure and made it possible to increase the stiffness of the aerospace bracket molded from short fiber reinforced polymers.