Topology aware design and manufacturability analysis for additive manufacturing

"Topology Optimisation" (TO) is a commonplace term in engineering, used to describe the optimisation of a structure in terms of mechanical function and/or mass. Whilst there can be nuances in how it is described or integrated between different commercial software packages, the premise is the same. However, the optimality of a TO process depends on a certain objective (e.g., material reduction). Indeed, many engineers would use the term topology and geometry interchangeably. In contrast to pure geometric representations, topological analysis of 3D structures can encode high-level information and help to categorise structures. This is particularly useful, when considering how to manufacture a part. The topological representation of data, can also be used to map complex qualitative interactions.
Therefore, at first, this project will investigate various methods to topologically analyse 3D geometry, including those designed using TO and to encode information related to manufacturing complexity into dimensionally reduced representations of the structure. New methods will be developed to analyse and find a mapping between the topological descriptors and the manufacturing complexity. With this knowledge, the project will aim to develop computational frameworks that integrate topological awareness to optimise the manufacturability of additive manufacturing (AM) processes.