Compression deformation analysis of cellular lattice structure for structural optimization in additive manufacturing

Abstract

Additive manufacturing has Cellular structures as its prominent component because of their ability to overshadow the solid ones on account of more strength-to-weight ratio, porous and light-weight nature. A lattice structure called vintile was designed and the effect of change in unit size, lattice kernel position, volume reduction coefficient, and cellular structure optimization on mechanical properties were discussed in this study. Samples with different cell sizes, lattice kernel positions, were 3-D printed using Polylactic acid (PLA) material on MakerBot Replicator Plus 3D printer. Finite element analysis (FEA) and experimentation work was performed on the designed cellular structures so as to make the estimation and evaluation of the mechanical properties of these cellular structures. Output of the work shown that the vin tile lattice topology cellular structure with lattice kernels on both sides of the central hole geometry bears less stress and very little deformation than the other cellular structures with kernels on only either side. Experimental results were in conformation with simulation results. The study does not limit itself to design of cellular structure only but also compared mechanical behavior through volume reduction coefficient (VRC) and surface area coefficient (SAC). Final testing of vin tile cellular structures was done using FEA and experimental work have been carried out on fabricated samples. The results of both concluded that the optimized cellular structure had less stress and deformation than the non-optimized cellular structure.