System and method for design of additively manufactured products

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10885706-B2
Application number	US-201715823021-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 27, 2017
Priority date	Mar 22, 2017
Publication date	Jan 5, 2021
Grant date	Jan 5, 2021

Abstract

A system and method for obtaining topologically optimized structure in additive manufacturing. A finite element mesh of a standard shape geometry encompassing desired structure to be optimized with a design objective and orthotropic properties of material arising out of a selected material and selected additive manufacturing process to be used for manufacturing. An iterative topology optimization is carried out wherein the process includes simulation of loading requirements, design constraints and the boundary condition. The performance evaluation process uses a finite element analysis framework to obtain the factor of safety between two consecutive iterations based on the anisotropic properties of the material. The process will achieve a minimal factor of safety and a best suitable build orientation of the design.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for obtaining topologically optimized structure in additive manufacturing, the method comprising:
receiving, at a receiver module, a finite element mesh of a standard shape geometry encompassing desired structure to be topologically optimized in accordance with at least one design objective and orthotropic properties of material arising out of a selected material and a selected additive manufacturing process to be used for manufacturing the designed structure;
applying, at an application module, an iterative topology optimization of the designing structure, wherein each iteration of the topology optimization comprises simulating one or more loading requirements, one or more design constraints and one or more boundary conditions under which the designing structure is designed and optimized;
evaluating, at an evaluation module, the designing structure resulted from application of the iterative topology optimization using finite element analysis framework to obtain a predefined factor of safety based on an anisotropic properties of the material arising out of the selected additive manufacturing process, wherein the predefined factor of safety condition is defined as a substantially small difference in comparison with an evaluated factor of safety;
modifying, at a modification module, a state of the finite element iteratively according to one or more changes of the factor of safety between two consecutive iterations of the iterative topology optimization of the designing structure, wherein the state of finite element is modified by removal or addition of the finite elements, wherein a mesh independency filter with one or more nodal variables is used to determine a utility number of the finite elements, and wherein modifying the state of the finite element by removal or addition of the finite elements is based on the utility number; and
obtaining an optimal designing structure when the entire structure has a minimal factor of safety equivalent to the predefined factor of safety.

2. The method claimed in claim 1 , wherein the method further applied to obtain optimal designed structures for one or more build orientations with information of respective anisotropic properties.

3. The method claimed in claim 2 , wherein the one or more build orientations are ranked to obtain a build orientation when evaluated against one or more criteria.

4. The method claimed in claim 1 , wherein the iterative topology optimization includes bidirectional evolutionary structural optimization (BESO).

5. A system for obtaining topologically optimized structure in additive manufacturing, the system comprising:
a memory having one or more computer readable instructions;
at least one processor communicatively coupled with the memory, wherein the at least one processor executing one or more instructions stored in the memory;
a receiver module is configured to receive a finite element mesh of a standard shape geometry encompassing desired structure to be topologically optimized in accordance with at least one design objective and orthotropic properties of material arising out of a selected material and a selected additive manufacturing process to be used for manufacturing the designed structure;
an application module is configured to apply an iterative topology optimization of the designing structure, wherein each iteration of the topology optimization comprises simulating one or more loading requirements, one or more design constraints and one or more boundary conditions under which the designing structure is designed and optimized;
an evaluation module is configured to evaluate the designing structure resulted from application of the iterative topology optimization using finite element analysis framework to obtain a predefined factor of safety based on an anisotropic properties of the material arising out of the selected additive manufacturing process, wherein the predefined factor of safety condition is defined as a substantially small difference in comparison with evaluated factor of safety;
a modification module is configured to modify a state of the finite element iteratively according to one or more changes of the factor of safety between two consecutive iterations of the iterative topology optimization of the designing structure, wherein the state of finite element is modified by removal or addition of the finite elements, wherein a mesh independency filter with one or more nodal variables is used to determine a utility number of the finite elements, and wherein modifying the state of the finite element by removal or addition of the finite elements is based on the utility number; and
obtaining an optimal designing structure when the entire structure has a minimal factor of safety equivalent to the predefined factor of safety.

6. The system claimed in claim 5 , wherein the at least one design objective includes providing a predefined mass and stress for each of the finite elements of the designing structure.

7. The system claimed in claim 5 , wherein the iterative topology optimization includes bidirectional evolutionary structural optimization (BESO).

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing one or more instructions which when executed by a processor on a system, cause the processor to perform method for obtaining topologically optimized structure in additive manufacturing comprising:
receiving, at a receiver module, a finite element mesh of a standard shape geometry encompassing desired structure to be topologically optimized in accordance with at least one design objective and orthotropic properties of material arising out of a selected material and a selected additive manufacturing process to be used for manufacturing the designed structure;
applying, at an application module, an iterative topology optimization of the designing structure, wherein each iteration of the topology optimization comprises simulating one or more loading requirements, one or more design constraints and one or more boundary conditions under which the designing structure is designed and optimized;
evaluating, at an evaluation module, the designing structure resulted from application of the iterative topology optimization using finite element analysis framework to obtain a predefined factor of safety based on an anisotropic properties of the material arising out of the selected additive manufacturing process, wherein the predefined factor of safety condition is defined as a substantially small difference in comparison with evaluated factor of safety;
modifying, at a modification module, a state of the finite element iteratively according to one or more changes of the factor of safety between two consecutive iterations of the iterative topology optimization of the designing structure, wherein the state of finite element is modified by removal or addition of the finite elements, wherein a mesh independency filter with one or more nodal variables is used to determine a utility number of the finite elements, and wherein modifying the state of the finite element by removal or addition of the finite elements is based on the utility number; and
obtaining an optimal designing structure when the entire structure has a minimal factor of safety equivalent to the predefined factor of safety.

Assignees

• Tata Consultancy Services Ltd

Inventors

• Zagade Pramod Ramdas
• Basavarsu Purushottham Gautham

Classifications

• G06F30/17 Primary

  Mechanical parametric or variational design · CPC title

• B29C64/386

  Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• Y02P90/02

  Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] · CPC title

• G06T17/205 Primary

  Re-meshing · CPC title

• G06F2119/18

  Manufacturability analysis or optimisation for manufacturability · CPC title