Filtering technique to control member size in topology design optimization

A simple and effective filtering method to control the member size of an optimized structure is proposed for topology optimization. In the present approach, the original objective sensitivities are replaced with their relative values evaluated within a filtering area. By adjusting the size of the filtering area, the member size of an optimized structure or the level of its topological complexity can be controlled even within a given finite element mesh. In contrast to the checkerboard-free filter, the present filter focuses on high-frequency components of the sensitivities. Since the present filtering method does not add a penalty term to the objective function nor require additional constraints, it is not only efficient but also simple to implement. Mean compliance minimization and eigenfrequency maximization problems are considered to verify the effectiveness of the present approach.