Adjusting and smoothing the material density

After you solve a topology optimization solution, you can modify the lower boundary for the material density values of the elements to modify the design. For example, you might decide to reduce the lower boundary to thicken some of the trusses.

Lower boundary of 0.7		Lower boundary of 0.6

To help you better visualize the optimized part, you can smooth the raw output. The smoothing process uses nodal averages to determine which portion of each element to display.

Raw results		Smoothed results

You can optionally apply Laplacian smoothing to further smooth 3D tetrahedral elements based on their proximity to one another. Changes related to Laplacian smoothing are not visible in the graphics window. To visualize the effect of any changes, you must export the model and then import it in the Modeling or Pre/Post application.

Working with lattice structures

If you include a lattice structure in your solution, you can apply it to all of the elements in your design area or only those elements with material density values within a particular range. For example, you could specify that elements with material density values between 0.7 and 1.0 are solid, and elements with material density values between 0.4 and 0.7 are lattice structures. Elements with material density values less than 0.4 are removed from the model.

Lattice structures do not appear in the graphics window, but when you view the material density results, you can display the lattice structures in a different color. In the following figure, the lattice structures are orange, and the solid areas are green.

How do I

Create an optimization spreadsheet

Plot the material density results

Create a verification solution

Export the optimized model

Learn more

Optimization spreadsheet

Topology optimization post-processing results

Plotting the material density results

Verification solutions

Exporting the optimized model

Quick links

Command reference

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Adjusting and smoothing the material density, Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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