MECHANICAL

PROPERTIES OF LATTICE
STRUCTURED
MATERIALS
Aim of The Research Project
■ Aim of the work is to investigate the mechanical properties of Body Centered Cubic
lattice structure as a core in sandwich panel material.

Objectives of The Research Project

■ Determining the stiffness of a lattice structure which has BCC as a core in sandwich
panel material through experimental procedures.
■ Determining the stiffness of the same lattice structure through an analytical
approach called finite element method.
■ Comparison of both results for suitability of using BCC lattice structure in Civil
Engineering application.
Introduction

What if, We can produce structures which

are light in weight but carries high strength.

■ This idea is influenced by mother nature.

• Honeycombs
• Foams

Honeycomb
Application of Periodic Cellular
Materials
■ Aerospace Engineering
■ Marine Engineering
■ Defense Industry
■ Automotive
■ Bio Medical Engineering
Lattice Structure
■ Periodic Cellular Material
■ Repetitive Unit Cells
■ Reticulated
■ Non stochastic
Cubic Lattice Structure

Body Centered Cubic Unit Cell

Methodology

■ Experimental Procedure
• Three Point Bending Test
• Compression Test
■ Analytical Procedure
• Finite Element Method

BCC Cube
Parameter Variables

■ Height of a Unit Cell “L”

■ Number of Layers “n”

2 Layers
■ Number of Specimens is 12
L

Example Model
Fabrication

■ Material Selection
• Plastic
• Steel
• Wood
• Non-toxic Natural Clay
■ Carpenter’s help will be needed to fabricate the model.
Stiffness
■ Axial Stiffness
– “Force required to compress the member by unit displacement or elongate the
member by unit displacement.”
– It depends upon the Elastic Modulus, area of cross section and length of the
member.
– Prominent in space trusses (struts) of a unit cell.
■ Bending Stiffness
– “Moment Required to produce unit rotation.”
– It depends upon Elastic Modulus, Moment of Inertia and Length of the
member.
– Prominent in beam structures.
Compression Test
■ To determine the axial stiffness

Three Point Bending Test

■ To determine the bending stiffness
Compression test

Three point bending test

Finite Element Method

■ SAP2000 Software will be used to analyze the lattice module.

■ Material Properties of wood should be inputs to the software.
■ Boundary Conditions should be defined.
1. Lower nodes of the model are fixed by setting their displacements to zero in x,
y, z directions.
2. The loads are applied vertically to each node at the top.
References

■ Syam, Wahyudin & Wu, Jianwei & Zhao, Bo & Maskery, Ian & Elmadih, Waiel &
Leach, Richard. (2018). Design and analysis of strut-based lattice structures for
vibration isolation. Precision Engineering. 52. 494-505.
10.1016/j.precisioneng.2017.09.010.
■ Egan, P., Gonella, V., Engensperger, M., Ferguson, S. and Shea, K. (2017).
Computationally designed lattices with tuned properties for tissue engineering using
3D printing. PLOS ONE, 12(8), p.e0182902
■ Ushijima, Kuniharu & J. Cantwell, W & A. W. Mines, R & Tsopanos, S & Smith, Matt.
(2010). An investigation into the compressive properties of stainless steel micro-
lattice structures. Journal of Sandwich Structures & Materials - J SANDW STRUCT
MATER. 12. 10.1177/1099636210380997
THANK YOU