Effect of the Infill Density on 3D-Printed Geometrically Graded Impact Attenuators

Three-dimensional printing is widely becoming prevalent in various industries, including the automotive sector. As this technology advances, critical structures subjected to impact loads may also be produced using additive manufacturing. A key parameter in this technique is the infill density of the printed geometry, which directly affects mechanical properties such as strength, stiffness, and ductility. Functionally graded layouts present themselves as one of the best techniques to design effective impact attenuators. The present work combines these techniques and parameters to evaluate the behaviour of geometrically graded impact attenuators produced through additive manufacturing, with different infill densities for polylactic acid (PLA) and polycarbonate (PC) materials. The results obtained show an increase in the mechanical strength for both materials and all the infill densities when compared to reference quasi-static results.