Design of pipeline opening layout through level set topology optimization

作者：Liu Jikai; Ma Yongsheng

来源：Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, 2017, 55(5): 1613-1628.

DOI：10.1007/s00158-016-1602-3

• Pipeline opening layout
• Multi-material
• Level set
• Topology optimization
• Stiffness

Perforated pipeline structure is widely utilized in the oil industry for its special functionality of communicating media with the ambient environment. A typical application is the slotted liner in SAGD (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage) process, where the pipeline structure is manufactured with open slots to spread hot steam and collect the melted oil. Generally, a dense opening layout is employed to reduce flow resistance. On the other hand, inclusion of the many openings severely reduces the structural strength and stiffness, which causes the pipeline prone to deformation or even failure. Therefore, there exist the two conflicting requirements for design of the pipeline opening layout, and an interesting solution is proposed in this paper. To be specific, the pipeline structure is discretized into shell elements which are categorized into multiple types: without opening, with opening type 1, with opening type 2, etc. These element types are treated as different material phases, and design of the pipeline opening layout is transformed into a multi-material topology optimization problem. Multi-material level set method is employed to solve it, subject to the compliance minimization objective. In addition, a lower bound of opening quantity is applied by properly configuring the material fraction constraint, which ensures the low flow resistance. The effectiveness of the proposed method is proven through a few numerical case studies.

• 出版日期2017-5