Inner Sequential Single Solid Method for Layout Optimization of Multi-Materials

Abstract

Abstract In multiple materials layout optimization, the optimal solution is difficult to achieve due to the number of design variables being too large and the material interpolation scheme becoming complicated when using density-like method. To bypass this problem, an inner sequential single solid optimization (ISSSO) method is presented in this study. There are two types of iterations in the optimization process of this method: the inner and outer iterations. In the inner iteration, the original layout optimization of many materials is replaced with a series of single solid sub-optimizations. In each sub-optimization, only one solid is chosen to update and the rest keeps unchanged. The inner iteration stops when all the solids are updated consequently. The next loop of inner iteration starts when the current solution does not meet the requirement of convergence. The outer iteration starts only if the current inner iteration comes to an end. In the outer iteration, the new inner iterations for update of all the solid materials are carried out. The effectiveness of ISSSO method is verified by comparing the calculation results with other methods.