Density-Based Topology Optimization of High-Fidelity Fluid-Structure Interaction Problems with Large Deformations

Abstract: The application of modern topology optimization techniques to single physics systems has seen great advances in the last three decades. However, the application of these tools to sophisticated multiphysics systems such as fluid-structure interactions is still lagging behind, mainly due to the multidisciplinary and complex nature of such systems. In this work, we implement topology optimization of high-fidelity, fully-coupled fluid-structure interaction problems with large deformations. We use the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian approach to deform the fluid mesh as a pseudo-structural system such that structural deformations are completely reflected in the fluid flow mesh. The fluid-structure interaction problem is formulated using the three-field formulation and the sensitivity analysis is derived using the discrete adjoint approach. We show through numerical examples the effect of the projection and interpolation parameters on the convergence and topology of the optimized designs and demonstrate the effect of considering the structural deformations in the fluid mesh.