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6CCVD Research

The effect of lattice topology on the thermal and mechanical performance of additively manufactured polymer lattices

At a Glance

Section titled ā€œAt a Glanceā€
MetadataDetails
Publication Date2024-02-29
JournalResults in Engineering
AuthorsSaad Alqahtani, Turki Alqahtani, Hafız Muhammad Ali, Farukh Farukh, Karthikeyan Kandan
InstitutionsSaudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization, De Montfort University
Citations11

Abstract

Section titled ā€œAbstractā€

Additive manufacturing (AM) technology offers a streamlined approach to producing intricate components, reducing both time and costs. Lattice structures play a crucial role in optimising design space by proposing lattices that evaluate a broad spectrum of effective thermal and mechanical properties for building applications. This study aims to assess the impact of lattice topology and variations in the number of unit cells on the K-value, U-value, and compression strength of additively manufactured (AM) polymer lattices. The polymer lattice patterns were created using commercially available 3D printers and PLA polymer filaments. Thermal properties were characterised using a commercial heat flow meter (HFM), and hot-box calorimetry was employed to determine the K-value and U-value, respectively. Additionally, a universal material testing machine was used to investigate the compression strength of all specimens. Based on experimental findings, a scaling law was employed to correlate the effective thermal conductivities of various polymer lattice topologies, estimating the U-value of each one. Furthermore, the study examined how AM process parameters influenced the U-value of polymer lattices. The results indicated that lattice topology and relative density (Ļā€¾) significantly affected the U-value. The study also demonstrated that polymer lattice structures can be designed to select the optimal lattice configuration. Varying lattice topology had a notable impact on compression strength. It can be concluded that triangular and diamond lattice specimens with Ļā€¾=40% outperformed other lattice topologies due to their superior mechanical properties, the flexibility of additive manufacturing, and faster manufacturing time. The design of diverse lattice topologies holds promise for incorporating porosity into rigid materials, achieving high thermal and mechanical performance for energy-saving applications.

Tech Support

Section titled ā€œTech Supportā€

Original Source

Section titled ā€œOriginal Sourceā€

References

Section titled ā€œReferencesā€
  1. 1989 - Modelling the mechanical behavior of cellular materials [Crossref]
  2. 2013 - Additive manufacturing (AM) and nanotechnology: promises and challenges [Crossref]
  3. 2018 - Additively-manufactured lightweight Metamaterials for energy absorption [Crossref]
  4. 2023 - Additive manufacturing of sustainable biomaterials for biomedical applications
  5. 2023 - Recent advances in the additive manufacturing of stimuliā€responsive soft polymers [Crossref]
  6. 2021 - Thermal performance of additively manufactured polymer lattices
  7. 2023 - Development of Affordable Hot Box Calorimeter to Determine the U-Value of Inhomogeneous Building Material [Crossref]
  8. 2020 - Thermal and mechanical simulations of the lattice structures in the conformal cooling cavities for 3D printed injection molds
  9. 2020 - Evaluating lattice mechanical properties for lightweight heat-resistant load-bearing structure design [Crossref]

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