Innovative formulation for topological fatigue optimisation based on material defects distribution and TopFat algorithm

In the present study, a novel defect-driven topological fatigue (TopFat) optimisation approach is proposed. The influence of defects on the fatigue strength is modelled by using the Murakami formulation to consider the defect distribution in the material. The fatigue strength is taken into consideration by introducing a stress constraint in the minimum compliance topology optimisation problem in addition to the von Mises stress and volume constraints. The algorithm has been effectively validated on several literature cases, providing optimized topologies with maximised stiffness under the prescribed quasi-static and fatigue strength requirements.