Free Vibration Characteristics of Multi-Material Lattice Structures

This paper presents a modal analysis of honeycomb and re-entrant lattice structures to understand the change in natural frequencies when multi-material configuration is implemented. For this purpose, parallel nylon ligaments within re-entrant and honeycomb lattice structures are replaced with chopped and continuous carbon fibre to constitute multi-material lattice configurations. For each set, the first five natural frequencies were compared using detailed finite element models. For each configuration, three different boundary conditions were considered, which are free–free and clamping at the two sides that are parallel and perpendicular to the vertical parts of the structure. The comparison of the natural frequencies was based on mode-shape matching using modal assurance criteria to identify the correct modes of different configurations. The results showed that the natural frequency of the multi-material configurations increases from 4% to 18% depending on the configuration and material.