Mechanical Performance of Three-Dimensional Printed Lattice Structures: Assembled Versus Direct Print

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Additive Manufacturing

Background:

• Inclined struts in lattice structures create disjoint contours during additive manufacturing (AM), leading to contour plurality.
• Contour plurality reduces interlayer contact, negatively impacting adhesion, structural integrity, and mechanical properties of printed lattice structures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate a new interlocking and assembly-based approach for building lattice structures.
• To enhance layer continuity and minimize contour plurality, thereby improving mechanical performance.
• To compare the compressive performance of assembled lattice structures with traditionally direct-printed ones.

Main Methods:

• Examined two lattice configurations: cubic and octet.
• Developed an interlocking and assembly-based building approach to increase layer continuity.
• Compared the compressive performance of assembled lattice structures against direct-printed counterparts.

Main Results:

• Assembled lattice structures demonstrated generally superior mechanical performance (peak stress, specific energy absorption) compared to direct-printed structures.
• Empirical constants in the Ashby-Gibson power law were higher for both methods but more compliant for assembled octet structures.
• Assembled octet lattice structures showed greater resilience to manufacturing imperfections.

Conclusions:

• The interlocking and assembly-based approach effectively mitigates contour plurality issues in AM lattice structures.
• This method offers a viable strategy for improving the mechanical properties and structural integrity of 3D-printed lattices.
• Octet assembled structures present a promising direction for robust and high-performance lattice designs.