This paper presents the validation of an in-house developed structural topology optimization algorithm that automatically removes material from low-stress areas of monolithic structures, while reinforcing highly stressed zones by adding material within a predefined 2D or 3D design space. The results are validated through visual comparisons with reference 2D and 3D problems from the literature, as well as by benchmarking against those produced by the OptiStruct commercial solver for the 2D problems. Two implementations of the material removal threshold are proposed, and their comparison indicates strong influence not only on performance, but on solution quality as well. It is shown that by properly selecting the finite element size, setting the finite element removal threshold, establishing suitable stopping criteria and implementing control and failsafe mechanisms, the results are accurate and competitive in terms of structural performance compared to the considered references.