Structural optimization under internal porosity constraints using topological derivatives

Porosity is a well-known phenomenon occurring during various manufacturing processes (casting, welding, additive manufacturing) of solid structures, which undermines their reliability and mechanical performance. The main purpose of this article is to introduce a new constraint functional of the domain which controls the negative impact of porosity on elastic structures in the framework of shape and topology optimization. The main ingredient of our modeling is the notion of topological derivative, which is used in a slightly unusual way: instead of being an indicator of where to nucleate holes in the course of the optimization process, it is a component of a new constraint functional which assesses the influence of pores on the mechanical performance of structures. The shape derivative of this constraint is calculated and incorporated into a level set based shape optimization algorithm. Our approach is illustrated by several two- and three-dimensional numerical experiments of topology optimization problems constrained by a control on the porosity effect.