Scientific Article: Topology optimization in Structural Steel Design for additive manufacturing

In January 2021, an interesting article was published related to topology optimization in structural steel design and additive manufacturing. Topology Optimisation is a broad concept deemed to encapsulate different processes for computationally determining structural materials’ optimal layouts. With the purpose of filling the need for a systematic review both on the Topology Optimisation of recent applications in structural steel design and on its emerging advances that can be brought from other industrial fields, this article critically analyses scientific publications from the year 2015 to 2020. Over six hundred documents, including Research, Review, and Conference articles, added to Research Projects and Patents, attained from different sources were found significant after eligibility verifications and therefore, herein depicted. The discussion focused on Topology Optimisation’s recent approaches, methods, and fields of application and deepened the analysis of structural steel design and design for Additive Manufacturing. Significant findings can be found in summarising the state-of-the-art in profuse tables, identifying the recent developments and research trends, as well as discussing the path for disseminating Topology Optimisation in steel construction.

(Tiago p. Ribeiro, Luis F.A. Bernardo, Jorge M.A. Andrade, Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(5), 2112 )