Lightweight design and topology optimization of marine structures using peridynamics

Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1201/9781003399759-91

Reducing the structural weight of the engineering parts is one of the key concerns for various manufacturing fields such as marine, aerospace, and automotive industries. Topology optimization would be a promising tool to design lighter and more cost-effective marine structures. In this paper, we utilize peridynamics- based topology optimization procedure for reducing the weight of marine structures. The objective function of the optimization problem here is compliance (i.e., total strain energy) where the constraint is defined as a target volume. Peridynamics is a non-local formulation of classical continuum mechanics and has superior advantages as compared to the finite element method in modeling structural discontinuities. For this reason, possible cracks or damages are also included in the initial design domain to avoid failures during the operation period of these marine structures. The results show superior design and optimum topology of a bulkhead for applications to relevant ships.