A Sequential Element Rejection and Admission (SERA) method for compliant mechanisms design

A Sequential Element Rejection and Admission (SERA) method to design compliant mechanisms with topology optimization techniques is presented in this work. This procedure allows material to flow between two different material models: 'real' and 'virtual'. The method works with two separate criteria for the rejection and admission of elements to efficiently achieve the optimum design. The SERA method overcomes the problems encountered by the ESO method when used to design compliant mechanisms. Three benchmark problems are presented to show the validity and robustness of the SERA method to design complaint mechanisms, regardless of the design parameters chosen.