Hierarchical design and coupling deformation of lattice structures with variable unit cells manufactured by laser powder bed fusion

With the development of additive manufacturing technology, lattice structures with complex topological shapes can be manufactured. In order to combine the advantages of stretch dominance and bend dominance, a hierarchical lattice structure composed of variable unit cell is proposed. The hierarchical lattice structures are manufactured by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). Five different cell arrangement combinations are designed based on face centered cubic (FCC) with octet truss structure (OTS) at the macro scale. The mechanical performance and deformation behavior of the hierarchical lattice was investigated systematically through compressive experiments and numerical simulations. The deformation modes were captured with a digital camera. Then, the crashworthiness design on the Row layered structure parametric analysis was performed to discuss the effect of geometrical parameters including component ratio and size ratio. The results indicated that the hierarchical structure exhibits a mixed deformation mode among those the Row layered structure has the best energy absorption characteristics. And the specific ratios of these geometrical parameters significantly enhance the energy absorption of hierarchical structure. Overall, this work not only provides a novel solution for designing hierarchical structures, but also highlights the advantages of additive manufacturing techniques for manufacturing complex structures.