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Layout optimization can be used to find material-efficient designs for a range of structure types. It is particularly effective for skeletal forms, including trusses, lattice infills and beams.
Layout Optimization
Layout Optimization
The first stage in the process is the layout optimization step. This involves expressing the most important physical and design requirements to form a convex optimization problem. This can be solved for a huge number of potential elements; usually between a few tens of thousand and several billion potential elements will be considered, depending on the problem.
Rationalisation
Rationalisation
Sometimes, there may be aspects of the design problem which cannot be easily expressed in the layout optimization stage. This often includes:
Buildability issues such as joint complexity or number of members
Aesthetic or architectural considerations
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These can be addressed using a variety of automated or human-in-the-loop approaches.
Comparisons between the LayOpt approach and other methods of structural optimization
Comparisons between the LayOpt approach and other methods of structural optimization
Topology Optimization (TopOpt) methods
Heuristic methods
Meta-heuristic methods
Solving strategies
Solving strategies
One reason why Layout Optimization methods are very fast and can provide guaranteed global optimality is because the structural analysis and design are integrated into a single optimization problem.
This means that both the design variables and state variables are treated equally. Whilst this results in a larger optimization problem, it also means that the problem is much more sparse and often has a mathematical structure which that can be solved easily (e.g. linear or conic optimization problems).
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