Hierarchical optimization of material and structure for thermal transient problems

Abstract

This paper describes a multiscale computational algorithm to simultaneously optimize the macroscopic material distribution and the microscopic material layout of two-phase, non-homogeneous composite structures. The optimization of the composite material is performed within the context of transient thermal conduction problems. The objective is to identify the non-homogeneous composite that minimizes the difference, at a prescribed time T, between the actual values of the temperature field and a target temperature distribution. The methodology is illustrated with a relatively simple test problem that indicates that the procedure can successfully identify an optimal material layout at the micro- and macroscales. © 2006 Springer.