A voxel-based method of constructing and skinning conformal and functionally graded lattice structures suitable for additive manufacturing

By A. Aremu, J. Brennan-Craddock, A. Panesar, Ian Ashcroft, Richard J. M. Hague, Ricky Wildman, Christopher John Tuck. 2017

198 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) enables the production of geometrically complex parts that are difficult to manufacture by other means. However, conventional CAD systems are limited in the representation of such parts. This issue is exacerbated when lattice structures are combined or embedded within a complex geometry. This paper presents a computationally efficient, voxel-based method of generating lattices comprised of practically any cell type that can conform to an arbitrary external geometry. The method of conforming involves the tessellation and trimming of unit cells that can leave ‘hanging’ struts at the surface, which is a possible point of weakness in the structure. A method of joining these struts to form an external two dimensional lattice, termed a ‘net-skin’ is also described. Traditional methods of manufacturing lattice structures generally do not allow variation of cell properties within a structure; however, additive manufacturing enables graded lattices to be generated that are potentially more optimal. A method of functionally grading lattices is, therefore, also described to take advantage of this manufacturing capability.

Subfields: Automotive Engineering, Building and Construction, Civil and Structural Engineering

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1da9d94b1b28caa7cb51773247bb26c5a054b4db

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Automotive Engineering

1. G. H. Loh
2. David Harrison
3. S. Feih
4. Eujin Pei
5. Mario D. Monzón
6. S. Daynes

In Building and Construction

1. Michael Y. Wang
2. Eujin Pei

In Civil and Structural Engineering

1. Yiqiang Wang
2. Lei Zhang
3. Michael Y. Wang
4. S. Feih
5. S. Daynes
6. Hongying Zhang
7. Zhan Kang
8. Zhen Luo

Citations in the corpus

• Design of graded lattice structure with optimized mesostructures for additive manufacturing (2018, methodology): “In particular, AM enables the direct fabrication of multiscale CSs as a whole part without any additional assembly process [31].”
• An overview of functionally graded additive manufacturing (2018, methodology): “At present, the conversion of voxel model from a common geometric format (i.e. STL file) for FGAM is computationally demanding and difficult to achieve trimmed lattices with highly refined details [Aremu, 2016].”