Application of Finite Element and Topology Optimization Methods in Smart Structures and Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Tailored and as-designed smart materials have gained popularity and prominence in several applications due to the recent advancements in the fields of additive manufacturing and numerical solvers (finite element, optimization, etc.). The design of architectural materials and structures with non-intuitive properties is a challenging objective that should be at the interface of different scientific axes: multiscale and multiphysics computations (in order to bridge the different underlying scales and phenomena), advanced optimization solvers and algorithms, data-driven and surrogate models (for the acceleration of optimization processes and computations), and enriched continuum theories (e.g., Cosserat and second-order elasticity for non-localities, instabilities and size effects).

This Special Issue, entitled “Application of Finite Element and Topology Optimization Methods in Smart Structures and Materials”, seeks high-quality and original works that focus on (but are not limited to) the following topics:

• Bottom-up, finite element multiscale/multiphysics simulations of architectural and smart materials;
• Top-down inverse design of architectural and smart materials;
• Multiscale and multiphysics topology optimization;
• Multiscale computations based on generalized continuum mechanics (Cosserat, second gradient, etc.).
• Data-driven, reduced-order and machine learning finite elements for multiscale computations and topology optimization solvers.

Prof. Dr. Nahiene Hamila
Dr. Nawfal Blal
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• topology optimization
• multiphysics
• computational homogenization
• smart materials
• architected materials
• design optimization
• data-driven
• surrogate models
• cosserat and second-order elasticity
• finite element method