Implicit-based computer-aided design for additively manufactured functionally graded cellular structures

Abstract

Additive manufacturing has enabled the fabrication of complex structures such as cellular structures. Although numerous design frameworks have been proposed for cellular structures, their effectiveness was limited owing to the use of B-rep-based representation. To address the limitations in previous research, this study proposes an implicit-based computer-aided design framework customized for additively manufactured functionally graded cellular structures (AM-FGCSs). The proposed design framework effectively aids in both single- and multiscale structural optimization for designing FGCSs. Moreover, implicit-based modeling afforded a reliable geometric representation that could efficiently assist computation tasks such as visualization, validation, and process planning for fabrication. In addition, two case studies were conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework for designing FGCSs. The first case study on a three-point bending beam design problem proved the practicality of implicit-based representation in multiscale structural design. Meanwhile, the second case study validated the proficiency of the proposed framework in process planning for fabrication and engineering analysis, the two most vital computation tasks in designing cellular structures.