Design of the multi-material structure using an MMC-SIMP sequential topology optimization method

The present paper introduces a sequential topology optimization method for multi-material structure design. In the proposed method, the moving morphable component (MMC) method and the solid isotropic material with penalization (SIMP) method are performed in sequence to achieve multi-material structure optimization. First, the structural topology is obtained using the MMC method, and then the material layout of the determined structural topology is optimized using the SIMP method. The connection between MMC method and SIMP method is established through components mapping elements, where changes in the material layout within these elements do not affect the external structural topology. The proposed method effectively combines the advantages of two optimization methods, enabling the achievement of an explicit external structural topology and greater freedom in internal multi-material layouts, while remaining easy to implement. The key MATLAB codes for the proposed method are provided in the paper. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed method is verified through some numerical examples.