(1. State IJR Center of Aerospace Design and Additive Manufacturing, School of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China; 2. MIIT Lab of Metal Additive Manufacturing and Innovative Design, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China; 3. Institute of Intelligence Material and Structure, Unmanned System Technologies, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China)
Abstract:Additive manufacturing builds as-designed structures via layer-by-layer joining material, providing an alternative manufacturing pattern for complex components. In contrast to conventional structural design concept, topology optimization is independent on initial configuration and can obtain more innovative configurations, and has been a significant approach for high-performance and lightweight structures in the aerospace and high-end equipment field. The integration of topology optimization and additive manufacturing can make the most of their respective advantages and potentials, and has broad application prospects in modern manufacturing. This article reviews the main research content and applications of the integration of additive manufacturing and topology optimization in recent years, including multi-scale/ hierarchical structural optimization design centering on material and structure integration, and topology optimization for additive manufacturing limits centering on design and manufacturing integration. Meanwhile, the problems and challenges of structural design approaches and additive manufacturing process are presented, such as the performance characterization as well as scale effects of additive manufactured lattice structures, the anisotropy of additive manufactured material, the fatigue performance of additive manufactured material, additive manufactured functionally graded material and structure, etc., which provides references for tomorrow’s related research and aerospace applications.