Conceptual design of structural systems based on topology optimization and prefabricated components

•Periodic shaped units based topology optimization (SUTO) methodology.•Shaped units manufactured either using 3D printing or as prefabricated components.•Independent of the design domain and size/shape of the components. The scope of this work is to present a novel methodology that relies on topology optimization and aims to support architectural intuition; using prefabricated structural elements the methodology can assist conceptual design of larger scale structural systems. According to the proposed methodology, equivalent rectangular finite elements are generated based on multiple specifically shaped prefabricated units, which are treated by topology optimization as periodic unit cells. Using the methodology, aesthetic and manufacturing concerns are imposed into the mathematical formulation of the problem and innovative structural systems are developed that cannot be achieved through conventional approaches. The applicability of the proposed methodology is tested in 2D plane stress analysis problems and results for benchmark topology optimization problems are shown. 3D test cases are also examined where hangar and high-rise building type of structures are considered, simulated with 8-node hexahedron finite elements. Finally, a computing code is integrated into the Grasshopper 3D parametric design application, in order to interpret the optimized structures into the Rhino3D computer-aided design software.