Solution methods for structural optimization in contact rod problems

I. Figueiredo, J. Júdice e S. Rosa

Abstract

We consider a material and shape optimization problem which involves a composite rod in contact with a rigid foundation. It is shown that the problem can be reduced to an optimization problem in some independent variables and some variables defined implicitly by the solution of a Linear Complementarity Problem (LCP) with a positive definite matrix. A projected-gradient algorithm is proposed that incorporates an efficient LCP solver to compute function values and gradients. An example is included to illustrate the suitability of the proposed methodology.