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topostr

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topostr

Topostruct is a program for structural topology optimization. Its development was influenced by the ideas and methods
discussed in the book Topology Optimization, Theory, Methods and Applications writen by M.P. Bendsoe and O. Sigmund.
This software is intended primarily towards designers and non engineers that want to familiarize with topology optimization as well as develop thier intuition regrading the structural behaviour of materials.
Topostruct supports both two and three dimensional models. The user will input the dimensions and resolution of an
orthogonal region in space which will be assigned certain material density. Then the user must place different support
conditions and applied loads within this region and finally run the optimizer which will yield a distribution of material that
best meets these conditions.

Developed by Panagiotis Michalatos and Sawako Kaijima

www.sawapan.eu
sawapandesign@gmail.com

topostr

for time consuming processes a progress bar

will appear. If it takes too long click on the
skull icon to terminate the process without
killing the programm.

ce

close

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User Interface

maximize/restore
minimize

selected object
properties

main tabs

button

toolbox

check button - unchecked

number input

l
ne
pa how
in /s
ma ide
h

control group

Basic Use
1. Select between 2d and 3d system
2. Set Dimensions and resolution of problem
domain to desired values and press reset
dimensions
3. Add at least one support region and one
load region
4. Set target density to the desired fraction of
material volume [0.1-0.2 usually is good[
5. Set Number of optimization steps
6. Press Opimize and wait

drop down lists

scrollbar min
scrollbar value [editable]
scrollbar max
scrollbar

toggle visibility button

topostr

uct

2d system
Software information and author
details
switch between 2d and 3d system
Dimensions of problem domain

resolution of domain along the x

direction. The resolution of the
other directions will be decided
based on this so that all nite
Delete all nite elements whose
density is less than the value of elements have equal sides. Setting this value too high will
the iso contour scroll bar. It
decreas eperformance signifcantwill completely remove elemens
ly and may cause the application
outside the contour so use only
after a few initial optimization to run out of memory. A value of
about 30 - 60 for 3d and 40 to
iterations to improve speed of
100 for 2d should be ne for most
subsequent steps
cases.
Set dimensions to above numbers

Determines the number of iterations for the optimization process. default = 3

This value determines the fraction of material volume that
must remain after optimization.
default = [0.1 - 0.2]
The penalization factor determines how fast the optimizer
converges to a Black and White
solution. default = 3.0
Filtering Determines the number
of smoothing steps and the
strength of each step for every
optimization iteration step. It
is there to avoid the checker
board effect but also can be used
to affect the smoothness of the
the nal shape.
factor that multiplies the self
weight of the current system
during analysis and optimization
Optimize runs the optimizer module for the given parameters
Reset all densities to a single
value.
Do the structural analysis of
the current system with no optimization
Smooth Current density distribution.

Subdivide remaining elements.

Pressing this button will double
the resolution of the system. IT
is intended to be used after a
signicant number of the initial
elelements has been removerd by
th Delete below threshold command in order to increase solution detail.

topostr

uct

2d system
Clear all support, load and density regions
choose shape of next region to
be added
Add a support region. All nodes
within this region will be xed.
Select the region to adjust xing type.
Add a load region. All nodes
within this region will get this
applied force. Select the region
to adjust force direction and
magnitude.

Render the grid of nite elements. Useful in conjunction

with animation of displacement
to see the deformations of individual elements.
Animate the model according to
calculated displacements. At
least one analysis or optimization iteration has to be done
before this can show anything.
Scaling of animated deformation
Show stress tensor eigenvectors
Render stress lines. Integral
curves of the stress principal
direction vecor elds
Choose property to visualize and
color scheme
Choose density level on which
to calculate boundary of current solution. This value is
also used for the Delete below
threshold function.
Apply this kernel to the current
density distribution. In this
way you can implement custom
lters such as smoothing, directional smoothing, sharpening
etc..

Add a density region. All

bricks and quads within
this region will have their
density xed to a specic
value and not get affected
by optimization step. This
is usefull for example in
order to designate areas
in the model that have to
remain empty [density 0.0].
The optimized solution will
try to by pass them.

topostr

uct

3d system
Software information and author
details
License agreement

switch between 2d and 3d system

Dimensions of problem domain
Set dimensions to above numbers
Delete all nite elements whose
density is less than the value
of the iso surface level scroll
bar. It will completely remove
elemens outside the contour so
use only after a few initial optimization iterations to improve
speed of subsequent steps
Determines the number of iterations for the optimization process. default = 3
This value determines the fraction of material volume that
must remain after optimization.
default = [0.1 - 0.2]
The penalization factor determines how fast the optimizer
converges to a Black and White
solution. default = 3.0
Filtering Determines the number
of smoothing steps and the
strength of each step for every
optimization iteration step. It
is there to avoid the checker
board effect but also can be
used to affect the smoothness of
the the nal shape.
factor that multiplies the self
weight of the current system
during analysis and optimization
Optimize runs the optimizer module for the given parameters
Reset all densities to a single
value.
Do the structural analysis of
the current system with no optimization
Smooth Current density distribution.

resolution of domain along the x

direction. The resolution of the
other directions will be decided
based on this so that all nite
elements have equal sides. Setting this value too high will
decreas eperformance signifcantly and may cause the application to run out of memory. A
value of about 30 - 60 for 3d
and 40 to 100 for 2d should be
ne for most cases.

Subdivide remaining elements.

Pressing this button will double
the resolution of the system. IT
is intended to be used after a
signicant number of the initial
elelements has been removerd by
th Delete below threshold command in order to increase solution detail.

topostr

uct

3d system
Clear all support, load and density regions
choose shape of next region to
be added
Add a support region. All nodes
within this region will be xed.
Select the region to adjust xing type.
Add a load region. All nodes
within this region will get this
applied force. Select the region
to adjust force direction and
magnitude.

Render the grid of nite elements. Useful in conjunction

with animation of displacement
to see the deformations of individual elements.
Animate the model according to
calculated displacements. At
least one analysis or optimization iteration has to be done
before this can show anything.
Scaling of animated deformation
Visualize the density eld as
volumetric fog
Render iso surface of current
density eld at selected iso
value.
Choose density level on which
to calculate boundary of current solution. This value is
also used for the Delete below
threshold function.
controls the type of information
visualized by the cross section
in the scene. You can manipulate
position and orientation of the
cross section in the viewport

Add a density region. All

bricks and quads within
this region will have their
density xed to a specic
value and not get affected
by optimization step. This
is usefull for example in
order to designate areas
in the model that have to
remain empty [density 0.0].
The optimized solution will
try to by pass them.