Effect of solid distribution on elastic properties of open-cell cellular solids using numerical and experimental...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Solid Mechanics
• Computational Engineering

Background:

• Open-cell cellular solids are crucial in various applications.
• Understanding the relationship between material distribution and mechanical properties is vital.
• Previous studies often simplified solid distribution assumptions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of solid distribution (edges vs. vertices) on the elastic properties of 3D open-cell cellular solids.
• To develop and validate a numerical model for predicting these properties.
• To derive empirical relations for elastic properties based on structural parameters.

Main Methods:

• Finite Element Analysis (FEA) using Kelvin unit cells with periodic boundary conditions.
• Numerical simulations covering relative densities from 0.01 to 0.1.
• Experimental validation using 3D-printed scaffolds with varying solid fractions at vertices.

Main Results:

• Young's modulus shows a non-monotonic behavior at low relative densities (<0.03), increasing then decreasing with material shifted to vertices.
• At higher relative densities, Young's modulus increases monotonically with material shifted to vertices.
• Poisson's ratio consistently decreases with increasing relative density and solid fraction at vertices.

Conclusions:

• Solid distribution significantly influences the mechanical response of open-cell cellular solids.
• The developed FEA model accurately predicts elastic properties, validated by experimental data.
• Empirical relations were established for Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio, offering predictive capabilities for material design.