Some principles to optimise an additively manufactured multi-component product

Myriam Orquéra (1) , Sébastien Campocasso (1) , Dominique Millet (1)

1 COSMER - Laboratoire Conception de Systèmes Mécaniques et Robotiques - EA 7398

Depending on the requirements, the design of a product may result in very different solutions. Topological optimization is a mathematical tool that can be used to obtain lighter parts without decreasing their stiffness. As the optimized part shapes are often too complex to be manufacturable, additive manufacturing is generally used. Usually, the topological optimization is performed on a single part. However, for a product, the decreasing of mass and inertia in each individual part has an impact on the loads applied onto all the parts of the system. Moreover, different paths can be used to optimize a product, e.g. optimizing all the parts simultaneously or part after part. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to propose, based on a case study, some optimization principles to find the best optimization path to design an additively manufactured product. In order to do this, the concept of topological optimization loops is first proposed. Then, several optimization paths are compared. In comparison with a usual single topological optimization, the proposed method leads to an additional gain in mass of up to 35% for the case study. Finally, some optimization principles are suggested to choose the most adapted path according to the designer objectives.

Mots clés: Product design; Topological optimization; Additive manufacturing

Domaines: Génie mécanique [physics.class-ph]

Myriam Orquéra, Sébastien Campocasso, Dominique Millet. Some principles to optimise an additively manufactured multi-component product. Journal of Engineering Design, 2020, 31 (4), pp.219-240. ⟨10.1080/09544828.2019.1699034⟩. ⟨hal-02509887⟩