A novel approach for mechanical regulation of thin-walled crystal plate lattices: Experimental characterization and simulation

Owing to machining limitations, the accurate regulation of mechanical performances of thin-walled crystal plate lattices can be hardly realized via plate thickness in laser powder bed fusion. The present study proposes a novel approach for accurately regulating the elastic, plastic, and energy absorption properties of thin-walled crystal plate lattices using plate holes. In order to identify the influence of plate holes on the programmable mechanical properties of thin-walled crystal plate lattices, numerical simulations as well as experimental tests were conducted. Without breaking the original symmetry features, the increasing size of plate holes only results in slightly increased elastically-anisotropy. Quasi-static uniaxial compression tests and simulations demonstrate the stiffness, yield strength, and energy absorption capability can be accurately regulated by plate holes. Elastoplastic finite element simulations are employed to reveal the mechanisms responsible for the mechanical response of thin-walled crystal plate lattices. All simulations are verified by mechanical tests of 316L stainless steel crystal plate lattices. This study provides a new channel for tunable mechanical performances of thin-walled crystal plate lattices.