Application of isogeometric analysis in structural shape optimization

In this paper, the isogeometric analysis method is utilized in the three-dimensional shapeoptimization of structures, instead of finite elements. the main obstacles in shape optimization problemsare inherent in the currently practiced numerical analysis methods and their distinction from thegeometry definition model. the newly developed isogeometrical analysis has the potential to be employedfor this goal. the main advantage of this technique, besides being computationally less costly, and itsease and precision in defining boundaries, is that it does not require several remeshings in the processof optimization. in this research work, the domain of interest is defined by using non-uniform rationalb-splines (nurbs). also, a numerical analysis tool is developed, which uses the nurbs basis functionsfor approximation. the control points defining the design boundary surface are considered as the designvariables of the shape optimization problem. to demonstrate the performance of the method, someexamples of two and three dimensional problems are presented.