Multiphysics for topology optimization in MEMS

To date, coupled simulation environments for MEMS devices have been implemented in a variety of commercial and free software. However, structural optimization for the multiphysics case is not well addressed until now. In most implementations, the optimization algorithm merely follows the traditional single-field problem case, in which the design variables and sensitivity are updated sequentially. This paper presents a promising methodology to implement structure topology optimization via a fully-coupled partial differential equation (PDE) expression. The multiphysical structural optimization capability is integrated through specially derived Lagrange-Euler equations. An example of structure topology optimization which includes coupled effects is presented in order to demonstrate the feasibility and power of this methodology.