Influence of bracing on the mechanical properties of Ti6Al4V lattice structures

Abstract

In this paper, three novel lattice structures were designed based on the body-centered cubic (BCC) unit cell. These lattice structures with different porosities were fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM). We investigated the mechanical properties, deformation-induced failure modes, and energy absorption of these structures under uniaxial compression. We added the bracings in a BCC unit cell, resulting in the shift from the bending-dominated mode to the stretch-dominated mode during deformation. Specifically, the vertical and horizontal bracings dramatically increased the compressive strength of the lattice structures. Importantly, the combination of the two bracings improved the strength by 287 %. Additionally, while boosting energy absorption, the bracings prevented the original structure from the failure-induced efficiency decrease in energy absorption. These findings are expected to provide experimental data and a scientific basis for the design and engineering applications of 3D-printed BCC unit cell structures.