  Contact-aware topology optimization faces challenges in robustness, accuracy,
and applicability to internal structural surfaces under self-contact. This work
builds on the recently proposed barrier-based Incremental Potential Contact
(IPC) model and presents a new self-contact-aware topology optimization
framework. A combination of SIMP, adjoint sensitivity analysis, and the IPC
frictional-contact model is investigated. Numerical examples for optimizing
varying objective functions under contact are presented. The resulting
algorithm proposed solves topology optimization for large deformation and
complex frictionally contacting scenarios with accuracy and robustness.
