ABSTRACT
Quite often the design of a structure is based on a shape imposed by the designer. It is clear that optimizing structural shapes is a field in itself, but the question in the early design phase is to estimate the impact of different structural topologies and boundary conditions on the overall behaviour of the structure. Considering the computing power at hand, it is not that exceptional to model a three-dimensional complex geometry, conduct a finite element analysis with all load cases and run the code checks to dimension and verify the structure, with optional optimization process. At the end of the process, the calculation will have a clear output: the weight of the structure. When wanting to compare five topological alternatives, this approach becomes very time consuming, and only allows comparing the final weight of the structure.
