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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mech. Eng.
Sec. Digital Manufacturing
doi: 10.3389/fmech.2022.1061905
This article is part of the Research Topic

Global Excellence in Digital Manufacturing: Europe

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The integration of morphological design and topology optimization to enhance the visual quality of electricity pylons

Luca Di Angelo1, Rocco Furferi2*, Francesco Gherardini3 and Emanuele Guardiani1
  • 1University of L'Aquila, Italy
  • 2University of Florence, Italy
  • 3University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
Provisionally accepted:
The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

This paper proposes a systematic design method for artificial above-ground structures, like pylons, masts, and towers of infrastructures and facilities. This digital manufacturing-based approach considers the conventional requirements, such as regulatory and industrial feasibility, and those arising from social components to enhance the visual quality of the landscape where these structures will be installed. The method can achieve the structures' functional and aesthetic goals based on the application of computer-aided tools. In particular, this is achieved according to three key steps:
• Morphological development of landscape-related symbolism, environment, or culture and social needs.
• Topology optimization of the design concept, to reduce the structural weight and its visual impact.
• Engineering of the resulting optimized structure.
As a case study, the method is used for designing electricity pylons for the coastal territory of a Mediterranean European country, such as Italy. Citizens were involved during the identification phase of a symbolic shape for the concept development and during the final assessment phase. The result is a structure with enhanced visual quality according to international guidelines and fully complying with regulatory, safety, feasibility, and social requirements.

Keywords: Design method, Topology optimization, Computer-aided tool, Pylon, Visual impact, landscape impact

Received:05 Oct 2022; Accepted: 05 Dec 2022.

Copyright: © 2022 Di Angelo, Furferi, Gherardini and Guardiani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Prof. Rocco Furferi, University of Florence, Florence, Italy