Aeroelastic Topology Optimization of Wing Structure Based on Moving Boundary Meshfree Method

• Published in: Symmetry (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 6; p. 1154
• Main Authors: Wang, Xiaozhe, Zhang, Shanshan, Wan, Zhiqiang, Wang, Zhi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 03.06.2022
• Subjects: Aeroelasticity; Aircraft; Approximation; Asymmetry; Asymptotes; B spline functions; Boundary conditions; Galerkin method; Load; Mathematical analysis; Mechanics; Meshless methods; Methods; Modulus of elasticity; Optimization; Subtraction; Topology optimization
• ISSN: 2073-8994; 2073-8994
• DOI: 10.3390/sym14061154

The increasing structural flexibility of large aircraft leads to significant aeroelastic effects. More efficient topology optimization techniques are required for the design to further take advantage of aeroelasticity and obtain lightweight structures. This paper proposes a moving boundary meshfree topology optimization that combines the Galerkin method of weighted residuals and non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS). The solution domain is described by the control points of NURBS and its property is calculated adaptively with an integration subtraction technique. The minimal compliance is searched for using the globally convergent method of moving asymptotes (GCMMA) by designing the locations of control points as subject to volume and flux constraints. The method is first applied to a typical two-dimensional design example with symmetric boundary conditions. The results show that the shape constraints can be conveniently applied, and smoother boundaries are obtained with fewer parameters. Then, a three-dimensional wing structure with asymmetric boundary conditions is optimized. A three-dimensional flight load that combines the high-order-panel and meshfree methods is employed to calculate the elastic loads and update asymmetric external loads during the optimization process. The designed wing satisfies engineering requirements and the presented method can solve the practical topology optimization problems of three-dimensional structures.