Application of Functionally Graded Shell Lattice as Infill in Additive Manufacturing

The significance of lightweight designs has become increasingly paramount due to the growing demand for sustainability. Consequently, this study aims to demonstrate the potential of utilising a functionally graded lattice as an infill structure in designing an additively manufactured bicycle crank arm to achieve construction lightness. The authors seek to determine whether functionally graded lattice structures can be effectively implemented and explore their potential real-world applications. Two aspects determine their realisations: the lack of adequate design and analysis methods and the limitations of existing additive manufacturing technology. To this end, the authors employed a relatively simple crank arm and design exploration methods for structural analysis. This approach facilitated the efficient identification of the optimal solution. A prototype was subsequently developed using fused filament fabrication for metals, enabling the production of a crank arm with the optimised infill. As a result, the authors developed a lightweight and manufacturable crank arm showing a new design and analysis method implementable in similar additively manufactured elements. The percentage increase of a stiffness-to-mass ratio of 109.6% was achieved compared to the initial design. The findings suggest that the functionally graded infill based on the lattice shell improves structural lightness and can be manufactured.