Cellular Structures Design for Wrist Rehabilitation Considering 3D Printability and Mechanics Lightweight

Abstract

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing demonstrates a unique and powerful advantage to produce complex topology structures including porous structures, lattice structures, cellular structures similar constructions. Academically, the design of cellular materials has recently undergone a paradigm shift driven by 3D printing and powerful computational tools.This paper aims to explore how to optimize the parameters of lattice structure to balance the mechanics lightweight and 3D printability. Firstly, we analyzed the mechanical response characteristics of five different types of the topology of unit cell structures using finite element method. Secondly, we investigated the 3D printability and process limitations of five types of unit cell structures using fused deposition forming technology. Finally, we took the wrist rehabilitation brace as a case to further explore how to put lattice structure only where the material is needed considering the constraints of 3D printability and mechanical properties. For designing cellular structures, we suggested to use analytical modeling, simulation modeling and experimental modeling to obtain a large number of reliable data in steps, and finally achieve data-driven innovative design.