@inproceedings {pub2919pub3096,
	title = {Evolutionary Computation for Topology Optimization of Mechanical Structures: An Overview of Representations},
	author = {Nikola Aulig AND Markus Olhofer},
	year = {2016},
	month = {June},
	abstract = {During the past decade, continuum topology optimization became a standard industrial tool for the conceptual design of mechanical structures. Efficient gradient-based mathematical topology optimization methods exist that can be applied for large-scale problems. However, in some cases gradient information is difficult to obtain, or problems show strong nonlinearity rendering the application of a gradient-based method impractical. In these cases, optimization methods from
the field of evolutionary computation provide suitable means to realize a topology optimization. This paper provides an overview on the various structural representations used in conjunction with evolutionary computation for topology optimization. The important influence of the representation on the scalability of the
approaches, motivates the presented categorization in three groups: grid, geometric and indirect representations. The existing representations are described and discussed on a conceptual level and chances and challenges are outlined.},
	publisher = {IEEE},
	booktitle = {Proceedings of: IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation}
}