Design Optimization of Additive Manufactured Edgeless Simple Cubic Lattice Structures under Compression

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Additive Manufacturing

Background:

• Conventional lattice structures suffer from stress concentrations at sharp edges, leading to premature failure and reduced mechanical properties.
• Optimization is needed to mitigate stress singularities in lattice structures for improved performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an optimization framework for designing edgeless lattice structures with fillet and multipipe functions.
• To enhance the compression behavior and mechanical performance of lattice structures by introducing edgeless features.

Main Methods:

• Finite element analysis (FEA) was employed to simulate and optimize the lattice structures.
• Experimental compressive tests were conducted to validate the FEA results and assess the performance of manufactured samples.

Main Results:

• The optimized fillet edgeless simple cubic unit cell demonstrated a 12.1% increase in yield stress.
• A significant 144% reduction in stress concentration was achieved with the edgeless design.
• Experimental validation confirmed improved compressive strength in additively manufactured edgeless lattice structures.

Conclusions:

• The proposed edgeless design methodology effectively improves the mechanical performance of lattice structures.
• Optimized fillet edgeless lattice structures show superior compression behavior and stress distribution.
• This approach holds significant potential for advancing lattice structure applications in various fields.