Efficient mechanical modeling of sandwich panels with functionally graded lattice cores under thermal environments

Abstract

3D-printed sandwich panels with functionally graded (FG) lattice cores have garnered widespread attention owing to their outstanding mechanical performance. However, the straightforward interplay between the service environment, strut structure, and their mechanical behavior has not been systematically explored. In this study, an analytical two-step prediction modeling is developed to efficiently obtain the mechanical response of 3D printed sandwich panels with FG lattice cores. Initially, the effective elastic moduli of FG lattice cores are identified based on finite element (FE) analysis. The stress and deformation of the core-homogenized sandwiches in thermal environments are predicted using the higher-order shear deformation theory. Subsequently, the de-homogenization is employed to calculate strut stresses. The prediction shows excellent agreement with the FE results in the literature. Furthermore, parametric analysis is performed to uncover the impact of crucial variables on the strut stresses within the FG lattice cores. The results show that the strut stress decreases with the increased transverse layer number and power index, while increasing with the higher ambient temperature, length-to-thickness ratio, and thermal expansion of the sandwich panels. The proposed model can serve as an efficient tool for the design and printing of high-performance lattice-core sandwich panels.