We present a novel topology optimization (TO) method for the design of structures composed of bars that are made of an orthotropic, fiber-reinforced material. The designs generated under this framework tailor the layout of the fiber-reinforced bars to maximize the stiffness of the structure for a fixed amount of material. The proposed method extends the geometry projection method to represent the design via cylindrical bars that may be reinforced with continuous fibers and perform the analysis using a fixed finite element mesh. The interpolation of the material properties at the junction of multiple bars ensures that, out of the materials of the intersecting bars, the optimizer chooses the single best material. Numerical examples for the stiffness-based design of 2- and 3-dimensional frame structures are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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