Additive manufacturing (AM)

acclaimed as the most representative manufacturing technology in the “third industrial revolution”

is a manufacturing process where material is added through deposition or melting in a layer-by-layer fashion. This special manufacturing process makes the fabrication of the structures with complex shapes and geometrical features possible. AM has been the subject of several studies

the breakthrough in manufacturing is yet to be followed by a breakthrough in designing process. Topology optimization (TO) is a powerful free-form design tool that couples finite element analysis with mathematical programming to systematically design for engineering problems. It does not require a preestablished design and is capable of giving some new

sometime unanticipated

design ideas to designers. In this paper

we seek to leverage the full potential of this burgeoning manufacturing technology by reviewing the new design algorithms based on topology optimization.