Reliability-based topology optimization of continuous structures

A new structural topology algorithm based on reliability is proposed. Moreover, the mathematical model of topology optimization based on the reliability for continuous structures is developed, in which the level set function is taken as design variables, minimization of the compliance is taken as objective function, reliability constraint is included. For solving reliability-based topology optimization problem of continuous structures, the proposed methodology is combined with the reliability analysis and the topology optimization. The reliability analysis is carried out with the first-order reliability method for the reduction of the compute time, while the optimization part is performed with the level set method in order to obtain a better optimum material distribution. Finally, two examples show that the approach proposed in this paper is simple and efficient.