Mechanical Characterization of Multifunctional Metal-Coated Polymer Lattice Structures

Abstract

Metal-coated lattice structures hold significant promise for customizing mechanical properties in diverse industrial applications, including the mechanical arms of unmanned aerial vehicles. However, their intricate geometries pose computational challenges, resulting in time-intensive and costly numerical evaluations. This study introduces a parameterization-based multiscale method to analyze body-centered cubic lattice structures with metal coatings. We establish the validity and precision of our proposed method with a comparative analysis of numerical results at the Representative Volume Element (RVE) scale and experimental findings, specifically addressing both elastic tensile and bending stiffness. Furthermore, we showcase the method’s accuracy in interpreting the bending stiffness of coated lattice structures using a homogenized material-based solid model, underscoring its effectiveness in predicting the elastic properties of such structures. In exploring the mechanical characterization of coated lattice structures, we unveil positive correlations between elastic tensile stiffness and both coating thickness and strut diameter. Additionally, the metal coating significantly enhances the structural elastic bending stiffness multiple times over. The diverse failure patterns observed in coated lattices under tensile and bending loads primarily stem from varied loading-induced stress states rather than external factors. This work not only mitigates computational challenges but also successfully bridges the gap between mesoscale RVE mechanical properties and those at the global structural scale.

Multi-Step Mechanical and Thermal Homogenization for the Warpage Estimation of Silicon Wafers

“…In their meso-scale simulation, the remote boundary conditions with “coupled” behavior and sliding-wall boundary conditions were applied to the Representative Volume Element (RVE). The RVE, serving as the smallest micro-scale structure suitable for homogenization, enables the examination of large-scale structures while minimizing computational expenses [ 13 ]. This type of boundary condition was unsuitable for representing orthotropic materials and estimating the shear modulus, as it overly constrained the RVE, leading to an exaggerated assessment of elastic properties [ 14 ].…”