Design improvement by shape change using a linear finite element method

Mathematical methods of optimization have been used in the engineering workplace for a long time, but due to some theoretical problems with their application to the solution of discrete finite-element models, such methods have been slow to be adopted by non-academic users. In recent years, various methods of design modifications based on finite-element methods of structural analysis have been developed. Some of these methods have been implemented in commercial computer programs, such as, for example, OptiStruct, NASTRAN, ReSHAPE and Tosca. The problems presented in this paper have been solved using the software ReSHAPE, developed by Advea Engineering, Australia.