Topology optimization of thermally actuated compliant mechanisms considering time-transient e(ect

Thermal transducers, which can be regarded as thermally actuated compliant mechanisms, have found a wide range of applications, due to easy accessibility of heat source, and due to their good controllability and reliability. During the past decade topology optimization techniques have been developed as e7cient tools to design distributed compliant mechanisms and accepted by engineers. In this research, based on topology optimization, time-transient e(ect of heat transfer is proposed to produce the localized thermal actuation, using only simple forms of boundary heating. Non-uniform temperature distribution can be achieved by controlling the heating time before steady state is reached. Two numerical examples are presented. The resulting technique can be applied to design a novel type of integral attachment mechanisms, which bene ts the design for disassembly. ? 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.