Sequential topology and shape optimization framework to design compliant mechanisms with boundary stress constraints

Abstract We present a sequential topology and shape optimization framework to design compliant mechanisms with boundary stress constraints. In our approach, a density-based topology optimization method is used to generate the configuration of the mechanisms. Afterwards, a node-based shape optimization is invoked to obtain an exact boundary representation. A specialized, optimality criteria-based design update is formulated for the shape optimization. To avoid impractical hinges with point connections, stress constraints are imposed. The stress constraints are imposed using two strategies: Local stress constraints on the nodes of the boundary or global P-norm stress constraints in the domain. Further, an adaptive shape refinement strategy is adopted to increase the design space of shape optimization and to capture the fine-scale details of the geometry. Finally, numerical experiments are presented, showing that the proposed approach can be effectively applied to the design of compliant mechanisms with stress constraints.