Topology optimization design and analysis of a lifting hook

Design optimization is a process in which the strength and therefore the life of the parts performing a mechanical task subjected to repeated loads can be increased. In addition to increasing the strength of the part, weight reduction is the main target. Topology optimization is a method in which the parameters (weight and strength) can be better controlled in the design. New topology optimization methods developed day by day, facilitate the design processes and provide design diversity. Within the scope of this thesis, the static and fatigue behaviors of lifting hooks are examined. It has been tried to maximize the strength and fatigue life of lifting hooks under normal loading conditions by using different methods, especially topology optimization. First, topology optimization and fatigue analysis of a standard lifting hook were performed. In this process, "density-based method", which is a topology optimization method, was used to obtain new models and parametric hole operation was performed. Then, the density-based method was applied to the standard hook again by changing the topology study parameters to verify the parametric hole operation. In this study, it was aimed to reduce the weight as well as to preserve the strength of the standard sample. Based on the topological examination of the DIN15401-2.5 lifting hook, the new models obtained were compared with the standard hook. The results will allow designers to produce a lighter sample in addition to the strength that standard samples have. Secondly, cellular cut operation was applied to the hook to achieve the goal of low weight and high strength in a standard lifting hook. In this study, body-centered cubic cells were used and they were placed on the hook in accordance with the static analysis results. In the resulting model, the weight decreased with some increase in strength. It is predicted that better results can be obtained if the method is improved. In the third stage, a different method was used to obtain a higher structurally performance model of the standard hook (DIN15401-2,5). This method is called the "element removal method" in the literature. In this context, a computer code was developed using the parametric language of the ANSYS package program. In this method, where changes are made on the finite element model, new models are produced by removing the elements depending on a parameter. Finally, the model results obtained were superior to the standard hook with at least one of the strength and weight parameters.