2019 Volume 2019 Pages 20190006
In this study, an optimal design of lattice sandwich panels based on the ground structure method has been investigated. In our calculation, the sandwich panels were assumed to be subjected to three-point bending load. The lattices discussed in this paper can be manufactured by using the selective laser metal melting machine. Based on the former experimental study on the manufacturable diameter of each strand, a new equation for controlling the cross-section of each strand was introduced, which is based on the multiphase material optimization approach. In this paper, three kinds of unit-cell models (BCC, f2BCC and half-BCC) were applied as an initial shape, and the effect of the micro-architecture on the optimized result was discussed. It is found that the lattice composed of f2BCC unit behaves the lowest compliance among three geometries. The optimized shape was manufactured with a good accuracy by SLM.
