ARL Topologies vs modeFRONTIER

ARL Topologies is free, open-source software for topology optimization, published by USArmyResearchLab as a United States government project. It is intended for research and general use, and runs self-hosted from the command line with an XML input file. The program separates design representation, optimization method, and objective function. Representations include two- and three-dimensional element-based density discretization with SIMP interpolation, plus nodal-based density discretization with Heaviside projection and filtering. Inputs can be ASCII ExodusII or GMSH meshes, or rectangular pixel and voxel regions. Available optimizers include optimality criterion, method of moving asymptotes, BFGS through NLopt, and a genetic algorithm. Its implemented objective performs static structural finite element analysis. Density results can be post-processed to STL, while VTK, GMSH, and Matlab are output formats. A shared-library objective function allows extension to other problems. Building requires a C++11 compiler and listed libraries.

modeFRONTIER automates engineering simulation workflows and design optimisation by connecting third-party CAD/CAE software with in-house solvers. It combines multiple engineering disciplines in unified workflows and allows several optimisation strategies in one project file. Design exploration includes design of experiments, response surface models, multi-objective optimisation, robust design, reliability analysis and uncertainty quantification. Surrogate models, machine-learning algorithms and reduced-order models support data-driven modelling; ESTECO identifies pilOPT as its proprietary self-adaptive optimisation algorithm. Integrations include parametric solvers and custom connectors for Abaqus, Adams, ANSYS Workbench, CATIA and ANSA. pyFRONTIER and pyCONSOLE connect Python workflows, including scikit-learn and SciPy optimize libraries. Workflows can run in parallel, on local grid computing, or through remote HPC and cloud resources. VOLTA adds collaboration, distributed execution and result traceability. Pricing is on request, with academic licences limited to non-commercial or academic use.