Topology optimization for design-dependent hydrostatic pressure loading via the level-set method - software

A few level-set topology optimization (LSTO) methods have been proposed to address complex fluid-structure interaction. Most of them did not explore benchmark fluid pressure loading problems and some of their solutions are inconsistent with those obtained via density-based and binary topology optimization methods. This paper presents a LSTO strategy for designdependent pressure. It employs a fluid field governed by Laplace’s equation to compute hydrostatic fluid pressure fields that are loading linear elastic structures. Compliance minimization of these structures is carried out considering the designdependency of the pressure load with moving boundaries. The Ersatz material approach with fixed grid is applied together with work equivalent load integration. Shape sensitivities are used. Numerical results show smooth convergence and good agreement with the solutions obtained by other topology optimization methods.

The c++ level set code which is exactly the one used in the paper for the level set optimization part is available on: http://m2do.ucsd.edu/software/ along with user manuals for this OPenLSTO (v1.0) version.

For the FEA analysis part, the c++ code provided in the University’s data archive. To run the examples in the paper, this chunk of code provided in a folder named "pressure" needs to be combined with OpenLSTO (v1.0) following the steps below:

1. Download our M2DO level set code, named OpenLSTO-v1.0, from our website: http://m2do.ucsd.edu/software/
2. Go to OpenLSTO-master -> projects
3. Copy and paste the attached folder named "pressure" in projects.
4. To run the "Piston" or "Arch" examples go to: OpenLSTO-master -> projects->pressure->paper_piston or OpenLSTO-master -> projects->pressure->pressure_arch, respectively
5. Run the "piston" and "Arch" examples by typing in terminal the command: make && ./a.out, according to the OpenLSTO-v1.0 documentation downloaded from the website
6. Running the code will generate .vtk files with the area fraction and level set function which can be visualized in paraview according to the OpenLSTO-v1.0 documentation
7. Using the parameters given in the paper all the examples can be reproduced using this code. The expected outputs for all the examples can also be found in projects->pressure->paper_piston->output and projects->pressure->pressure_arch->Output.

The exact parameters used to replicate the results using the code above can be found in detail in the paper.