Topology Optimization of Shape Memory Alloy Actuators using Element Connectivity Parameterization

This paper presents the first application of topology optimization to the design of shape memory alloy actuators. Shape memory alloys (SMA’s) exhibit strongly nonlinear, temperature-dependent material behavior. The complexity in the constitutive behavior makes the topology design of SMA structures intractable by the conventional element density-based topology optimization. Therefore, in the present study, the recently developed element connectivity parameterization (ECP) formulation is applied, which offers important advantages for complex nonlinear topology optimization problems. A history-independent constitutive model of SMA’s is employed which allows efficient adjoint sensitivity analysis. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is illustrated by several numerical examples.In terms of computation time, the I-ECP method, a newly-developed version of ECP, is much more efficient because the degrees of freedom of the element-connectivity parameterizing links are eliminated in element level before the total system matrix is assembled. In terms of implementation, however, the E-ECP is easier to use because the sensitivity analysis in E-ECP does not require the explicit expression of the (tangent) stiffness matrix of continuum finite elements. Therefore, any finite element code, including commercial codes, can be readily used for the ECP implementation. The key ideas and characteristics of these methods will be presented in this paper.