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1. Mechanical properties of additively manufactured variable lattice structures of Ti6Al4V

   https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2021.140925  

   Traxel, Kellen; Groden, Cory; Valladares, Jesus; Bandyopadhyay, Amit (March 2021, Materials science engineering)

   null (Ed.)

   Engineered micro- and macro-structures via additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D-Printing can create structurally varying properties in a part, which is difficult via traditional manufacturing methods. Herein we have utilized powder bed fusion-based selective laser melting (SLM) to fabricate variable lattice structures of Ti6Al4V with uniquely designed unit cell configurations to alter the mechanical performance. Five different configurations were designed based on two natural crystal structures – hexagonal closed packed (HCP) and body centered cubic (BCC). Under compressive loading, as much as 74% difference was observed in compressive strength, and 71% variation in elastic modulus, with all samples having porosities in a similar range of 53 to 65%, indicating the influence of macro-lattice designs alone on mechanical properties. Failure analysis of the fracture surfaces helped with the overall understanding of how configurational effects and unit cell design influences mechanical properties of these samples. Our work highlights the ability to leverage advanced manufacturing techniques to tailor the structural performance of multifunctional components. 

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2. Design of Low Density Architectured Metamaterials With High Compressive and Torsional Stiffness

   https://doi.org/10.1115/IMECE2023-110261  

   Liu, Xiangbei; Jeon, Joseph J; Tiplea, Anisia G; Li, Yan; Song, Bo (October 2023, American Society of Mechanical Engineers)

   Abstract Metamaterials are architected cellular networks with solid struts, plates, or shells that constitute the edges and faces of building cells. Certain metamaterial designs can balance light weight and high stiffness requirements, which are otherwise mutually exclusive in their bulk form. Existing studies on these materials typically focus on their mechanical response under uniaxial compression, but it is unclear whether a strut-based metastructure design with high compressive stiffness can exhibit high torsional stiffness simultaneously. Designing lightweight metastructures with both high compressive and torsional stiffnesses could save time and cost in future material development. To explore the effect of unit cell design, unit cell number, and density distribution on both compressive and torsional stiffnesses, a computational design space was presented. Seven different unit cells, including three basic building blocks: body-centered cubic (BCC), face-centered cubic (FCC), and simple cubic (SC) were analyzed. All samples had a relative density of approximately 7%. It was found that a high compressive stiffness required a high concentration of struts along the loading direction, while a high torsional stiffness needed diagonal struts distributed on the outer face. Increasing unit cell numbers from 1 to 64 affected stiffness by changing the stress distribution globally. Non-uniform metastructure designs with strengthened vertical and diagonal struts towards the outer surface exhibited higher stiffness under either compressive or torsional loading. This study provides valuable guidelines for designing and manufacturing metamaterials for complex mechanical environments. 

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3. Viscoelastic Damping and Wave Cutoff of Titanium Alloy and Lattices

   https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202200491  

   Goyal, Karan; Rueger, Zach; Davis, Evan; Lakes, Roderic_S (June 2022, Advanced Engineering Materials)

   The 3D‐printed titanium alloy Ti5553 solid and octet truss lattice specimens are studied via resonant ultrasound spectroscopy, free decay of vibration and quasi‐static methods to determine viscoelastic damping. Damping in solid alloy and a lattice is between 10⁻⁴and10⁻³. Much of the damping at high sonic frequency is attributed to stress‐induced heat flow between heterogeneities due to 3D printing. Pulsed wave ultrasound experiments disclose reverberation in the cell structure of the lattice. Continuous wave ultrasound experiments show that the transmissibility in the lattice rolls off beginning at about 50 kHz and becomes negligible above 110 kHz. By contrast, the polymer polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), though it is viscoelastic, readily transmits waves up to 1 MHz. The cutoff frequency in the lattice is associated with the structure size, not intrinsic damping in the alloy. The octet truss lattice, in addition to providing good mechanical performance, is also an ultrasonic metamaterial. 

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4. A Novel Low-Activation VCrFeTaxWx (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 1) High-Entropy Alloys with Excellent Heat-Softening Resistance

   https://doi.org/10.3390/e20120951  

   Zhang, Weiran; Liaw, Peter; Zhang, Yong (December 2018, Entropy)

   The microstructure, Vickers hardness, and compressive properties of novel low-activation VCrFeTaxWx (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 1) high-entropy alloys (HEAs) were studied. The alloys were fabricated by vacuum-arc melting and the characteristics of these alloys were explored. The microstructures of all the alloys exhibited a typical morphology of dendritic and eutectic structures. The VCrFeTa0.1W0.1 and VCrFeTa0.2W0.2 alloys are essentially single phase, consisting of a disordered body-centered-cubic (BCC) phase, whereas the VCrFeTa0.2W0.2 alloy contains fine, nanoscale precipitates distributed in the BCC matrix. The lattice parameters and compositions of the identified phases were investigated. The alloys have Vickers hardness values ranging from 546 HV0.2 to 1135 HV0.2 with the x ranging from 0.1 to 1, respectively. The VCrFeTa0.1W0.1 and VCrFeTa0.2W0.2 alloys exhibit compressive yield strengths of 1341 MPa and 1742 MPa, with compressive plastic strains of 42.2% and 35.7%, respectively. VCrFeTa0.1W0.1 and VCrFeTa0.2W0.2 alloys have excellent hardness after annealing for 25 h at 600–1000 °C, and presented compressive yield strength exceeding 1000 MPa with excellent heat-softening resistance at 600–800 °C. By applying the HEA criteria, Ta and W additions into the VCrFeTaW are proposed as a family of candidate materials for fusion reactors and high-temperature structural applications. 

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5. On the elastodynamic properties of octet truss-based architected metamaterials

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0140673  

   Oudich, Mourad; Huang, Edward; Heo, Hyeonu; Xu, Zhenpeng; Cui, Huachen; Gerard, Nikhil JRK; Zheng, Xiaoyu; Jing, Yun (April 2023, Applied Physics Letters)

   Architected metamaterials have emerged as a central topic in materials science and mechanics, thanks to the rapid development of additive manufacturing techniques, which have enabled artificial materials with outstanding mechanical properties. This Letter seeks to investigate the elastodynamic behavior of octet truss lattices as an important type of architected metamaterials for high effective strength and vibration shielding. We design, fabricate, and experimentally characterize three types of octet truss structures, including two homogenous structures with either thin or thick struts and one hybrid structure with alternating strut thickness. High elastic wave transmission rate is observed for the lattice with thick struts, while strong vibration mitigation is captured from the homogenous octet truss structure with thin struts as well as the hybrid octet truss lattice, though the underlying mechanisms for attenuation are fundamentally different (viscoelasticity induced dampening vs bandgaps). Compressional tests are also conducted to evaluate the effective stiffness of the three lattices. This study could open an avenue toward multifunctional architected metamaterials for vibration shielding with high mechanical strength. 

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