An integrated case study of material selection, testing and optimization

An opportunity for design improvement through material substitution was identified by experimental assessment of an existing linear actuator. Material selection procedures were used to screen a broad database of materials to identify feasible candidates and quantify their relative merit. Further assessment by numerical methods identified additional opportunities for topological optimisation. Aluminum provides a compromise between the objectives of mass and cost and may provide an opportunity for enhanced material selection. A novel process allows heat treatment of cast aluminum alloys. The increased yield strength provides significant mass reduction opportunities. Traditional material selection tools engage with a large number of candidate materials, but provide little design guidance for the optimisation of a specific scenario. Conversely, numerical optimization provides insight into specific scenarios, but has significant computational cost. The techniques applied in this paper provide an example of the integration of both methods: a course filter rapidly screens a large database, resulting in a subset that can be processed by the numerical methods within available design time.