Impact Absorption Behaviour of 3D-Printed Lattice Structures for Sportswear Applications

Development of porous implants with non-uniform mechanical properties distribution based on CT images

Design and optimization of crashworthy components based on lattice structure configuration

In most of the automobile and aerospace materials, cellular structures are extensively used due to their lightweight and high energy absorption capabilities. Naturally available animal bones and plant stems are light in weight due to their natural cellular structures. This may inspire various researchers for integrating the various lattice structures such as beam, planar, triply periodic minimal surfaces, and voronoi structures on the various structural materials. The development of lattice structures using 3D printing technology has opened up major attention towards fabricating lightweight components without any complications. In this study, the detailed crashworthiness responses such as compressive strength was optimized in terms of varying the topology‐related factors on the carbon fiber reinforced polyethylene terephthalate glycol (CF/PETG) composite. The experimentation was conducted concerning variable topology factors such as shell thickness, unit cell type, wall thickness (WT), unit cell orientation (UCO), skewing angle, and unit cell size. The model was examined and optimized by means of the Taguchi optimization technique. The crashworthiness response was analyzed using the compression test and moreover, this experimental response is used for the optimization processes. From the observation, the topology factors which contributed more for the higher compressive strength will be UCO of 65.47% and WT of 15.20%. Results of the regression study show that theRsquare value with concern to the compressive strength will be 92.74%. The optimized design parametric condition for CF/PETG composite established a higher compressive strength of 41.179 MPa, From the overall results, it is clear that the variation in the topology factors has developed a huge and favorable impact on the mechanical characteristics of the lattice‐structured CF/PETG polymer composite.HighlightsHexagonal Lattice structure incorporation on the carbon fiber reinforced PETG composite.Design optimization on the compressive properties.Taguchi optimization is performed on design‐based lattice structures.Unit cell orientation has higher percentage contribution on compressive strength.

Dynamic compressive behavior of a modified additively manufactured rhombic dodecahedron 316L stainless steel lattice structure

Mechanical behaviors and failure modes of additive manufactured Ti6Al4V lattice structures under compressive load

The performance of porous β-titanium alloys is crucial for their diverse applications, with fatigue characteristics playing a pivotal role in shaping the design of these porous structures. While topological configurations have exhibited exceptional property, a systematic understanding of their fatigue performance is lacking in recent literature. This study reveals that at a porosity level of ∼75%, designed topologically optimized (TO) structures surpass rhombic dodecahedron (RD) structures in compressive yield strength by ∼4 times (149 ± 3 MPa vs. 38 ± 1 MPa). Furthermore, post-heat treatment further enhances the yield strength of TO structures by ∼15%, reaching 172 ± 3 MPa due to grain refinement and β phase stabilization. Moreover, the as-printed TO structure exhibits exceptional compressive fatigue endurance, enduring stress approximately ∼5 times higher than the as-printed RD structure at a cycle count of 106. Microstructure analysis after fatigue testing reveals a reduction in the α" martensitic phase and an increase in stress-induced ω phase in the heat-treated TO structure, contributing to a slight improvement in fatigue strength compared to the as-printed TO structure. The exceptional fatigue performance observed in LPBF-built beta-type titanium alloy within TO structures highlights the complex relationship between porous structure design, microstructure, compressive strength, and fatigue performance.

Mechanical properties of an improved 3D-printed rhombic dodecahedron stainless steel lattice structure of variable cross section

Mechanical behaviour of additively-manufactured polymeric octet-truss lattice structures under quasi-static and dynamic compressive loading

The compressive response of octet lattice structures with carbon fiber composite hollow struts

Lattice structures are a class of cellular materials with greater control over the mechanical properties, relative to other common cellular materials like foams and honeycomb structures. In this paper, three lattice structures including Kelvin, Rhombic dodecahedron, and truncated cuboctahedron with identical geometric dimensions in quasi-static and dynamic loadings were investigated to identify the proper lattice structure for impact resistance applications. This study consisted of two experimental and numerical sections. In the experimental section, the lattice structures were fabricated using the selective laser melting (SLM) method from the AISI 316L material. The dynamic tests of the lattice structures were performed by the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) with a strain rate of 765 s−1. In the numerical section, the modeling was carried out by the finite element method (FEM) to predict the properties of the lattice structures. The results of the experimental tests showed that the selected lattice structures had a high strength to weight ratio and considerable impact resistance; so, they could be suitable for use in lightweight and impact-resistant structures. In addition, the modeling results revealed a good agreement with the experimental results. Finally, the specific absorbed energy of the Rhombic dodecahedron lattice structure in the quasi-static compression test and with the 50% strain was 7% and 15% higher than that of Kelvin and truncated cuboctahedron lattice structures, respectively. While, with evaluation of the dynamic results, the truncated cuboctahedron lattice structure had higher area under the specific stress-strain curve in comparison to the other two structures.

Numerical and experimental investigations of novel nature inspired open lattice cellular structures for enhanced stiffness and specific energy absorption

The aim of this study is to fabricate biodegradable PLA-based composite filaments for 3D printing to manufacture bear-loading lattice structures. First, CaCO3 and TCP as inorganic fillers were incorporated into a PLA matrix to fabricate a series of composite filaments. The material compositions, mechanical properties, and rheology behavior of the PLA/CaCO3 and PLA/TCP filaments were evaluated. Then, two lattice structures, cubic and Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces-Diamond (TPMS-D), were geometrically designed and 3D-printed into fine samples. The axial compression results indicated that the addition of CaCO3 and TCP effectively enhances the compressive modulus and strength of lattice structures. In particular, the TPMS-D structure showed superior load-carrying capacity and specific energy absorption compared to those of its cubic counterparts. Furthermore, the deformation behavior of these two lattice structures was examined by image recording during compression and computed tomography (CT) scanning of samples after compression. It was observed that pore structure could be well held in TPMS-D, while that in cubic structure was destroyed due to the fracture of vertical struts. Therefore, this paper highlights promising 3D-printed biodegradable lattice structures with excellent energy-absorption capacity and high structural stability.

Metallic lattice structures have been widely utilized in different fields such as automobile, aerospace and so on, owing to their superior mechanical properties and energy absorption characteristics. In this paper, the enhanced dynamic mechanical properties of the modified rhombic dodecahedron (RD) lattice structures were investigated systematically through numerical simulation and theoretical analysis. Results indicated that compressive modulus, initial yield strength and normalized specific energy absorption (SEA) of the modified RD lattice structures all exhibited a quadratic growth trend with the increase of relative density beyond following the traditional law. Meanwhile, the plateau stress and normalized SEA exhibited certain sensitivity to the strain rate and almost linearly increased as the loading rate increased. Finally, a modified rigid-perfectly plastic-locking shock wave model was also proposed, and the predicted results of the proposed modified shock wave model were consistent with the simulation results.

The investigation on the bending fatigue properties of Ti-6Al-4V lattice sandwich structures fabricated EB-PBF

This study explores the structural performance and optimization of 3D-printed Polylactic Acid (PLA) lattice structures, focusing on octapeak, hexstar, and dodecahedron designs, for potential load-bearing applications. Through compression testing, the load-displacement behavior of each structure type was analyzed, examining key characteristics such as peak load capacity, deformation patterns, and failure modes. The Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) was employed to assess each configuration based on two primary criteria: compressive strength and mass. This analysis yielded insights that were structure-type specific as well as overall across all nine samples. Among the hexstar configurations, sample 4 attained the highest rank due to its exceptional load-bearing capacity, making it the optimal choice for high-strength applications. Within the octapeak and dodecahedron groups, samples 2 and 7, respectively, demonstrated balanced performance, suitable for applications prioritizing mass efficiency over maximum strength. In the overall ranking, hexstar emerged as the top-performing structure, with its configurations consistently balancing strength and mass effectively, while octapeak and dodecahedron offered viable alternatives for lighter, less load-intensive uses. The findings demonstrate the utility of the PROMETHEE method in optimizing lattice structure configurations for specific engineering applications, thus contributing to the advancement of sustainable design in additive manufacturing. This research provides a framework for selecting 3D-printed structures that meet application-specific criteria for compressive strength and material efficiency.