Design Elements Page 1 of 2

Design Elements

Solid Elements
The SIMP method (Solid Isotropic Material with Penalty) is used in OptiStruct. In the
SIMP method, a pseudo material density is the design variable, and hence it is often
called density method as well. The material density varies continuously between 0 and
1, with 0 representing void state and 1 solid state. The SIMP method applies a power-
law penalization for stiffness-density relationship in order to push density toward 0/1
(void/solid) distribution:

EQ. 1.
K̃ (ρ) = ρp K

Where, K̃ is the penalized stiffness matrix of an element, K is the real stiffness matrix
of an element, ρ is the density, and p is the penalization factor (always greater than 1).

Shell Elements
The SIMP method (Solid Isotropic Material with Penalty) is used in OptiStruct. In the
SIMP method, a pseudo material density is the design variable, and hence it is often
called density method as well. The material density varies continuously between 0 and
1., with 0 representing void state and 1 solid state. The SIMP method applies a power-
law penalization for stiffness-density relationship in order to push density toward 0/1
(void/solid) distribution.

EQ. 2.
K̃ (ρ) = ρp K

Where, K̃ is the penalized stiffness matrix of an element, K is the real stiffness matrix
of an element, ρ is the density, and p is the penalization factor (always greater than 1).

For isotropic material a non-zero base plate thickness can be defined. For a composite
plate or a plate with anisotropic material, the base plate thickness must be zero (the
limitation of the current development).

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Design Elements Page 2 of 2

Topology optimization of composites has certain unique characteristics and is discussed

in Composite Topology and Free-size Optimization
(composite_topology_free_size_opt_r.htm#composite_topology_free_size_opt_r).

1D Elements
Only the density method is implemented for topology optimization of 1D elements.
Currently available elements include ROD, BAR/BEAM, BUSH, and WELD elements. Each
element is controlled by a single design variable that is the material density ρ of this
element that varies between 0 (numerically a small value is used) and 1.0. In essence, 0
represents nonexistence and 1.0 represents full existence of the corresponding element.
The following power law representation of elastic properties is used to penalize
intermediate density:

EQ. 3.
K̃ (ρ) = ρp K

Where, K̃ and K represent the penalized and the real stiffness matrix of an element,
respectively, p is the penalization factor which is always greater than 1. The penalty is
controlled by the DISCRETE or DISCRT1D parameters, the value of these parameters
correspond to ( p - 1).

See Also
Multi-Model Optimization (../../topics/solvers/multi_model_optimization_intro_r.htm)

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