Integrated layout and topology optimization design of multi-frame and multi-component fuselage structure systems

The purpose of this paper is to present an extended integrated layout and topology optimization method dealing with the multi-frame and multi-component fuselage structure systems design. Considering an aircraft or aerospace fuselage system including main structure, numbers of frames and featured components located on the frames, a simultaneous optimization procedure is proposed here including geometrical design variables of components and frames as well as topological design variables of main structure and frame structures. The multi-point constraints (MPC) scheme is used to simulate the rivets or bolts connecting the components, frames and structures. The finite circle method (FCM) is implemented to avoid the overlaps among different components and frames. Furthermore, to deal with the difficulties of large numbers of non-overlapping constraints, a penalty method is used here to compose the global strain energy and non-overlapping constraints into a single objective function. To guarantee the fuselage system's balance, the constraint on the system centroid is also introduced into the optimization. Different numerical examples are tested and the optimized solutions have demonstrated the validity and effectiveness of the proposed formulation.