Investigation of Energy Absorbing and Damage Behavior of Gyroid and Diamond Cell Based Lattice Structures Manufactured through Powder Bed Fusion Technology

Abstract

Cellular porous structures are used as an alternative to blocking structures in in-dustrial fields where multi-functionality and mechanical efficiency are necessary. Many industries, such as automotive, aerospace and defense, utilize the benefits of these structures due to their high specific strength, outstanding noise and vibration damping abilities, thermal shielding, and superior specific energy absorption capacities. This study aims to reveal energy absorbing behavior and deformation mechanisms under compression load of Gyroid and Diamond cell based triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) structures manufactured by powder bed fusion (PBF) technology. The TPMS lattice structures fabricated using AlSi10Mg material were designed in different relative densities according to cell wall thickness and cell number. Crushing behaviors of these structures were numerically investigated with a commercial Ls-Dyna finite elements (FE) software. The numerical results were obtained in a good agreement with the experimental data. The FE analysis facilitated understanding of the deformation damage mechanisms and stress distribution on the cell surfaces of the TPMS lattice structures designed with different relative densities. The findings of the study demonstrated that peak stress values computed during crushing of the TPMS lattice structures go up significantly with increasing relative density. Crush force efficiency (CFE) and energy absorption capacity of the TPMS lattice structures remarkably varied depending on deformation damage mechanisms occurred during crushing process. The highest CFE values for the Diamond and Gyroid cell-based lattice structures was obtained as 54% and 51%, respectively. Moreover, it was found that specific energy absorption capacity of the Diamond cell based TPMS lattice structures is 50% more than that of the Gyroid cell based TPMS lattice structures with close relative densities.