Optimization of the numerical homogenization method for cellular structures manufactured by Selective Laser Melting

Abstract

Rapid development of additive technologies presents enormous opportunities. associated with the production of complex geometries. For this reason. the field of 3D printing has become an ideal technique for producing cellular structures. The paper addresses the issue. related to the determination of the minimum number of unit cells. at which the structure is characterized by a constant effective Young's modulus. Currently. it is not possible to state unequivocally what number of individual cells is needed. For this reason. the paper proposes an algorithm by which the minimum number of unit cells can be determined. The parameters of the structure. such as the relative density and the topology of a single cell. have an important influence. It is worth noting that the base material also plays an important role. Various methods are used for numerical analysis of cellular structures. such as finite element-based analysis. numerical homogenization and beam-based analysis. Nevertheless. each of them has its own advantages as well as disadvantages. This paper proposes to optimize the numerical homogenization of cellular structures. using models consisting of a minimum number of unit cells and a 3D representation of actual printed models of cellular structures. Based on these optimizations. better agreement with experiment was obtained.