An experimental and numerical study on the tensile and compressive behavior of 3D printed biomimetic structures

Abstract

Nature inspires us in myriad ways. Nature inspired designs have the inherent advantage of being optimal. Bio-inspired cellular structures are light-weight and possess several benefits in terms of enhanced mechanical properties. With advancements in the realm of manufacturing, such bio-structures can be mimicked using 3D printing techniques. This enables the design of complex shapes which are inherently strong. In the present study, a comparison of the tensile and compressive behavior of two biomimetic structures namely, the honeycomb and gyroid is presented. Each structure was first 3D printed to specific dimensions. Both mechanical property assessments were performed experimentally. A numerical simulation of the assessments was then conducted for both the structures. The outcomes indicate that, the simulation results correlate well with experimental results. Additionally, it was observed that the gyroid structure exhibited desirable characteristics over the honeycomb structure.