Just Glass
Development of a Topology Optimization algorithm for a mass-optimized cast glass component.
Student:
Mentors:
Anna Maria Koniari
Faidra Oikonomopoulou
Charalampos Andriotis
The MSc thesis focuses on the development of an algorithm for the design of large monolithic cast glass structures based on a unified topology optimization (TO) formulation, considering both structural and manufacturing limitations. The thesis continues previous research held by TU Delft MSc students which, although showcased the large potential for the design of these megaliths, underlined the strong limitations that derive from the use of existing mathematical formulations and commercial software as the tool for it. This is mainly related to the fact that the annealing time constraint and the asymmetric stress failure criteria cannot be captured and, thus, approximations need to be made while the constraint evaluation also needs to be performed into different steps rendering the whole process time-consuming. The customized code was developed following the penalized artificial density method and was applied in a case study example for a pedestrian bridge, testing different boundary conditions and glass compositions. The results showcase that the method converges to robust shapes that comply with all the respective criteria and, therefore, are considered feasible to be manufactured. Upon extraction of the finalized shape, the 3-dimensional geometry is verified structurally using the ANSYS software. Finally, brief guidelines regarding the manufacturing process are discussed.