A Novel Rapid Manufacturing Process for Metal Lattice Structure

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Manufacturing Engineering
• Additive Manufacturing

Background:

• Traditional methods struggle with small-scale metal lattice structures.
• Existing processes often use powders, sheets, or liquid metals, posing manufacturing challenges.
• A need exists for a transformative approach to fabricate intricate metallic lattices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel hierarchical manufacturing process for small-scale metal lattice structures.
• To demonstrate a holistic approach from design to fabrication using one-dimensional metallic wires.
• To overcome the limitations of current manufacturing techniques for complex lattice designs.

Main Methods:

• A four-segment hierarchical process: Design, Bending, Dip, and Join (DBDJ).
• Utilizing topology-based design for continuous thin rod construction.
• Additive layer stacking to build three-dimensional lattice structures.
• Dip-coating for material transfer and transient liquid phase diffusion bonding for node joining.

Main Results:

• Successful manufacturing of various multiscale lattice structures using the DBDJ process.
• Achievement of very low relative density unit cells (approximately 3.8%).
• Compressive tests confirmed no failure at the joining nodes, indicating robust fabrication.

Conclusions:

• The proposed DBDJ process offers a unique and holistic solution for small-scale metallic lattice structure manufacturing.
• The use of one-dimensional metallic wires represents a significant advancement over existing methods.
• The process enables the creation of complex, low-density lattice structures with high joint integrity.