Effective elastic and strength properties of triply periodic minimal surfaces lattice structures by numerical homogenization

Abstract

This paper deals with the determination of the equivalent elastic and strength properties of triply periodic minimal surfaces (TMPS) lattice structures. Specifically, primitive and gyroid TPMS are analyzed, and their macroscopic properties, in terms of stiffness and strength, are derived as a function of the relative density. These properties are derived through numerical homogenization on the representative volume element (RVE) and via numerical analyses on specimens composed of an array of RVEs and compared to data available in the literature. These findings may potentially aid the creation of functionally graded cellular materials with variable density, optimizing structural stiffness and mass.

Keywords:

• Finite element method
• numerical homogenization
• mechanical response
• triply periodic minimal surface
• periodic cellular structures

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the ANR BeShape project, of the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Paris, France [grant number ANR-18-CE10-0014-01].

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)