Inverse design of mechanical springs with tailored nonlinear elastic response utilizing internal contact

This work employs a contact-aware topology optimization approach for the design of nonlinear springs with a broad range of prescribed load–displacement responses in both tension and compression. By leveraging the third medium contact approach to model internal contact, this method enables the utilization of collision between parts to achieve the desired load–displacement response while minimizing material consumption. The effectiveness of the proposed computational design approach is demonstrated using axially loaded springs as a benchmark, but the proposed method is also applicable to more general cases, including the design of periodic nonlinear material microstructures and metamaterials. [Display omitted] •Contact-aware topology optimization used for the inverse design of elastomer springs.•Inverse method precisely satisfying both softening and stiffening target responses.•Obtained spring designs exploit both buckling and internal contact.•Fully converged optimization solutions.