Topology optimization is used to find the optimized components of a flexible mechanism. Over the past decades topology optimization has gained large interest in structural design since it allows fast development of optimized complex geometries. In this work we exploit the Flexible Natural Coordinate Formulation (FNCF) to describe the flexible multibody dynamics. This formulation is used due to its simple description of the dynamic equations of motion (linear equations of motion with quadratic constraint equations) which limits the computational load and thus allows a fast evaluation of the dynamic multibody simulation. Finally we discuss the results of a numerical validation. In particular we look at a design problem which concerns the tip deflection of a high-speed cutting mechanism. This application is particularly interesting since the flexibility of the whole system is considered in order to And the component with the lowest rotational inertia whilst minimizing the tip deflection with respect to the prescribed motion.
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