The optimal design of a casting feeding system is considered. The problem is formulated as the volume constrained topology
optimization and is solved with the finite element analysis, explicit design sensitivity, and numerical optimization. In contrast
to the traditional topology optimization where the objective function is defined on the design space, in the presented method,
the design space is a subset of the complement of the objective function space. To accelerate optimization procedure, the
nonlinear unsteady heat transfer equation is approximated with a Poisson-like equation. The feasibility of the presented method
is supported with illustrative examples.
Keywords Casting optimization - Feeder design - SIMP - Solidification control - Topology optimization