Analysis and Shape Optimization of Axsymmetric Structures by Isogeometric Analysis Method

Isogeometric Analysis is a newly developed approach for analysis of engineering problems. Due to some interesting features of this method it can be a potential substitute for other numerical techniques such as finite elements and meshfree methods. Derivation of the formulation and application of the approach to analysis and shape optimization of axisymmetric problems is the subject of this paper. To evaluate the activity of the method, an example with available analytical solution is considered and solved. Also, two optimization examples are presented and solved by using the SQP optimization algorithm. The obtained results show that by using the isogeometric analysis method, the optimum shape can be achieved by a smaller number of design variables. Also, due to elimination of several mesh generations from the process, the computational cost is considerably decreased.