Structural design concepts involved in modern high profile facilities arise many challenges and often conflicting requirements, i.e., they must be stronger, lighter, safer, quieter. To meet those requirements, an optimized structural design is essential. With the rapid development on 3D printing, the complexity of the structure is not a liability but a bless. A fundamental knowledge relating to structural optimization and 3D printing will be a key foundation for future civil engineer.

This course provides an overview of the theoretical concepts behind general constrained optimization and recent development on 3D printing in mechanical and civil engineering. Emphasis will be on applications in structural optimization using finite element models with a focus on topology optimization using evolutional structural optimization (ESO) as well as bi-directional evolutional structural optimization (BESO). Methods are outlined with minimum mathematics and are illustrated by practical examples and its software implementations. Several cases studies will be demonstrated and a scaled optimization model will be constructed using 3D printing method.

The finite element modelling (FEM) tools and Optimization software will be used for hands-on exercises during approximately half of the time. Participants are invited to bring a portable computer to use during the hands-on exercises.