A Computationally Efficient Modeling Approach for Predicting Mechanical Behavior of Cellular Lattice Structures

As the fabrication and characterization of cellular lattice structures are time consuming and expensive, development of simple models is vital. In this paper, a new approach is presented to model the mechanical stress-strain curve of cellular lattices with low computational efforts. To do so, first, a single strut of the lattice is modeled with its imperfections and defects. The stress-strain of a specimen fabricated with the same processing parameters as those used for the lattice is used as the base material. Then, this strut is simulated in simple tension, and its stress-strain curve is obtained. After that, a unit cell of the lattice is simulated without any imperfections, and the material parameters of the single strut are attributed to the bulk material. Using this method, the stress-strain behavior of the lattice is obtained and shown to be in a good agreement with the experimental result. Accordingly, this paper presents a computationally efficient method for modeling the mechanical properties of cellular lattices with a reasonable accuracy using the material parameters of simple tension tests. The effects of the single strut’s length and its micropores on its mechanical properties are also assessed.