Shape-Conforming Lattice Structures Without Truncated Weak Points
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Solution Overview
Problem
In additive manufacturing, lattice structures are often truncated to fit complex part shapes, leading to structural weaknesses, stress concentrations, and complications in the manufacturing process due to mismatched shapes between lattice structures and parts.
Innovation Solution
A computer modeling and additive manufacturing system that generates shape-conforming lattice structures, allowing each mesh element to be independent for parallel processing and deformation, thereby avoiding structural weaknesses and stress concentrations, and enabling reduced-order modeling for simulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If lattice structures are truncated to fit complex part shapes, then the part can achieve its desired overall shape, but structural weaknesses and stress concentrations are introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The lattice structure is divided into multiple independent cellular components, each contained within its own mesh element. This segmentation allows each cell to maintain its structural integrity independently while collectively forming the overall part shape, avoiding the stress concentrations that occur when continuous lattice structures are truncated.
Solution Approach 2:
Each cellular component is designed with uniform, complete geometry rather than being cropped or truncated. This local quality ensures that every lattice cell maintains its intended structural properties and stress distribution, preventing the formation of weak points at boundaries where truncation would occur.
2Shape
If orthogonal lattice structures are cropped to fit circular part shapes, then the part achieves the desired circular shape, but cellular components become structurally compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The circular part is divided into multiple mesh elements, each containing a complete cellular component. This segmentation allows the overall circular shape to be achieved while each individual cell remains geometrically complete and structurally reliable, avoiding the compromise that would result from cropping orthogonal lattice structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution transitions from attempting to fit a fixed orthogonal lattice pattern to a circular boundary (which creates conflicts), to allowing the lattice structure to be defined in terms of complete cellular components that can be arranged and deformed to achieve the circular shape without truncation, effectively changing the dimensional approach to shape conformance.
3Shape
If truncated lattice structures are used, then complex part shapes can be achieved, but unwanted artifacts are introduced in the computer model
Solution Approach 1:
The computer model is structured as an assembly of independent mesh elements, each containing a complete cellular component. This segmentation creates a clean, organized model structure without the artifacts that would result from attempting to represent truncated or cropped lattice structures, simplifying the overall model complexity while achieving complex part shapes.
4Strength
If complete cellular components are used throughout the lattice structure, then structural integrity is maintained, but the ability to conform to complex part shapes is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The lattice structure is segmented into multiple independent cellular components within mesh elements. This segmentation enables each cell to maintain its complete, structurally sound geometry while the collection of cells can be deformed and arranged to conform to complex part shapes, thus achieving both structural integrity and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The mesh elements containing the cellular components can be deformed dynamically to adapt the overall lattice structure to complex part shapes. This dynamic capability allows complete cellular components to conform to various geometries without being truncated, maintaining structural integrity while achieving shape conformance.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system and method of creating a shape-conforming lattice structure for a part formed via additive manufacturing. The method includes receiving a computer model of the part and generating a finite element mesh. A lattice structure including a number of lattice cellular components may also be generated. Some of the mesh elements of the finite element mesh may be deformed so that the finite element mesh conforms to the overall shape of the part. The lattice structure may then be deformed so that the lattice structure has a cellular periodicity corresponding to the finite elements of the finite element mesh. In this way, the part retains the benefits of its overall shape and the benefits of lattice features without introducing structural weak points, directional stresses, and other structural deficiencies.