Optimal topology design for stress-isolation of soft hyperelastic composite structures under imposed boundary displacements

Soft hyperelastic composite structures that integrate soft hyperelastic material and linear elastic hard material can undergo large deformations while isolating high strain in specified locations to avoid failure. This paper presents an effective topology optimization-based methodology for seeking the optimal united layout of hyperelastic composite structures with prescribed boundary displacements and stress constraints. The optimization problem is modeled based on the power-law interpolation scheme for two candidate materials (one is soft hyperelastic material and the other is linear elastic material). The ɛ-relaxation technique and the enhanced aggregation method are employed to avoid stress singularity and improve the computational efficiency. Then, the topology optimization problem can be readily solved by a gradient-based mathematical programming algorithm using the adjoint variable sensitivity information. Numerical examples are given to show the importance of considering prescribed boundary displacements in the design of hyperelastic composite structures. Moreover, numerical solutions demonstrate the validity of the present model for the optimal topology design with a stress-isolated region.