Bachelor22 4 Report post Posted May 1 Hey guys, I have a question on the theory of the SIMP Method used in OptiStruct to perform a Topology Optimization. I got that the stiffness matrix of a material is varied depending on its "density" and that using the penalization factor p, we are aiming for design with only 0 and 1 values in the end. For me it's still unclear, how OptiStruct is calculating these density values. How does the solver know where I have an element with density 0, 1 or something in between? Kind regards and thanks in advance Simon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rahul R 316 Report post Posted May 2 Please refer attached material from help. 1_Design Elements SIMP.pdf 2_Penalization_SIMP.pdf Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bachelor22 4 Report post Posted May 4 Hello Rahul, thanks for your quick reply and the documents provided. I understand how the penalization is working and that the stiffness matrix of the structure is depending of a pseudo element density. I still don't get how this density is calculated. What is this variable depending on? And when does the density take a value of 0, for void, and when for 1, for solid material? Could you help me out with this question? Kind regards and thanks in advance, Simon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rahul R 316 Report post Posted May 6 Please refer below youtube video link & attached pdf. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_erS8dRxILM SIMP.pdf Bachelor22 likes this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites