Mechanical Characterization of Multifunctional Metal-Coated Polymer Lattice Structures

Area of Science:

• Materials Science and Engineering
• Computational Mechanics
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Metal-coated lattice structures offer tunable mechanical properties for applications like UAVs.
• Complex geometries of these structures present significant computational challenges for analysis.
• Existing methods are often time-intensive and costly for evaluating mechanical performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a parameterization-based multiscale method for analyzing coated body-centered cubic lattice structures.
• To validate the method's accuracy against experimental data for elastic tensile and bending stiffness.
• To bridge the gap between Representative Volume Element (RVE) scale properties and global structural behavior.

Main Methods:

• Development and application of a parameterization-based multiscale analysis technique.
• Comparative analysis of numerical results at the RVE scale with experimental findings.
• Utilized a homogenized material-based solid model to interpret bending stiffness of coated structures.

Main Results:

• The proposed method demonstrates validity and precision in predicting elastic tensile and bending stiffness.
• Positive correlations observed between elastic tensile stiffness and coating thickness/strut diameter.
• Metal coating significantly enhances structural elastic bending stiffness by multiple factors.

Conclusions:

• The multiscale method effectively mitigates computational challenges in analyzing coated lattice structures.
• The study successfully predicts elastic properties and failure patterns, linking mesoscale RVE to global scales.
• Findings provide a pathway for efficient design and optimization of coated lattice structures in engineering applications.