Shape sensitivity in elasto-plastic computations Original Research Article

An algorithm for design sensitivity analysis of elasto-plastic response for the case of design-dependent geometry is discussed. The domain parametrization approach is employed. Some important implications for the concept of isoparametric element formulation are indicated. The idea of shape sensitivity computations is similar to that of sensitivity with respect to material parameters. However, derivation of additional geometric matrices and integral expressions is necessary. A possible discontinuity of sensitivity solutions is indicated and it is shown that the algorithm handles it correctly. A plane stress computational example illustrates the application of the method.