Facilitating multidisciplinary collaboration through a versatile level-set topology optimization framework via COMSOL multiphysics

Topology optimization is an engineering design methodology that optimizes designs by manipulating material distribution. Level-set topology optimization (LSTO), a boundary-based method, has gained popularity for its crisp description of the design and natural handling of the topological changes during the optimization. However, its availability in commercial or open-source software is limited, and the entry barrier to LSTO could be considered high. This paper presents a workflow that seamlessly integrates LSTO with COMSOL Multiphysics, enabling broader accessibility. The workflow utilizes COMSOL’s versatile finite element solver to create models via their graphical user interface, which are then converted into MATLAB code. The LSTO modules, written in C++ for efficiency, are imported within MATLAB, adding topology optimization to the automatically generated COMSOL finite element code. The workflow leverages COMSOL’s adjoint sensitivity capabilities for efficient sensitivity computations during optimization. Three open-source examples showcasing the workflow’s effectiveness are provided, demonstrating heat conduction, fluid flow, and conjugate heat transfer optimization problems, and highlighting the power and versatility of the proposed approach.