Numerical study on the effect of geometry on mechanical behavior of triply periodic minimal surfaces

Abstract

Metallic cellular structures with triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) is a great approach to enhance multifunctionality for several engineering disciplines. In the present study, we aimed to generate metal-based Neovious, Schoen I-WP and Schwarz Primitive structures, leveraging on TPMS based design methods. Neovious, Schoen I-WP and Schwarz Primitive structures are mathematically formulated. Geometric factors like wall thickness, number of cells and the length of unit cell can affect the mechanical response namely elastic modulus and compressive strength. Herein, Neovious, I-WP and Primitive based materials are fabricated through Selective Laser Melting (SLM) to evaluate the difference between the aforementioned geometrical factors both experimentally and through simulations. The Taguchi method was implemented to explore the effect of geometric factors on structural response. These results were further extended to the structures to optimize the elastic modulus and compressive strength.