Adaptive Design of Implicit Surface Lattice Structure Based on Load Path

Lattice structure has been widely used to replace the solid structure because of the excellent performances such as ultra-light and high specific stiffness. But the advantages of the lattice structure cannot be fully reflected when the density of crystal cell is uniform. In order to better utilize the advantages of lattice structure, this paper presents an adaptive design method for lattice structure with nonuniform density crystal cells based on load path. First, the forces of any regions in a given structure are calculated and expressed by the load path theory. Then the normalized forces are mapped with the control parameters of triply periodic minimal surface to guide the density adjustment of each crystal cell. Finally, the nonuniform density lattice structure is obtained. Taking cantilever plates and cuboid as examples, the uniform density and non-uniform density lattice structure are filled, respectively, and the mechanical performances are analyzed and validated through simulations and experiments. Compared to the structure filled with uniform density lattice structure, the maximum displacement and maximum stress of the cantilever plate filled with nonuniform density lattice structure decrease by 15.15% and 3.43%, respectively, and the maximum strength of cuboid filled with nonuniform density lattice structure is improved by 14.9%, while the maximum deformation is reduced by 0.8%.