Global Journal of Researches in Engineering, E: Civil & Structural, Volume 23 Issue 2

Fig. 9: Design domain and boundary conditions of pile cap In the numerical simulations, to discretize the domain of the structure, a refined mesh of 40x20x40 was used, totaling 32,000 hexahedral elements (SESO) with 1mm reference side was used and a mesh of 32,000 tetrahedral elements (VFLSM). The results obtained as final optimal topologies of this problem for these meshes are represented in Fig. 10 and can be compared with the results with those presented by [16] and [26], see Fig. 11. The optimal topology is basically composed of discrete elements represented in the principal stress flows. These optimal settings are adequate to perform the detailing and dimensioning of the required reinforcement, as well as strength checks. In this structure, the vertical load is distributed in four struts inclined toward the supports represented by vertical piles. The models highlight elements at the base of the pile cap, representing the tensile stresses, where a plane frame of ties balances the strut ends generated by the 3D structure in both horizontal directions, Fig. 10, where it can be seen the optimum topologies for the two methods, SESO and VFLSM. In the automatic generation of the strut models, it was considered the main flows of distinct stresses by colors, where the region of compression struts is green color and the region of tensile ties is blue. a) b) Fig. 10: Optimal topology: (a) SESO; (b) VLSM (present formulation) © 2023 Global Journals Global Journal of Researches in Engineering ( ) E Volume XxXIII Issue II Version I 31 Year 2023 Topology Optimization: Applications of VFLSM and SESO in the Generation of Three-Dimensional Strut-and-Tie Models