Optimized Design of 3D Printed Lightweight Architected Shellular Materials

大自然一直是设计师们想出新点子、改进工程材料和结构性能的巨大灵感来源。材料表征、计算建模和增材制造（AM）的进步使研究人员能够破译天然材料的复杂微观结构，并开发出创新的、可制造的结构细胞材料。作为细胞材料的一个例子，在蝴蝶翅膀鳞片中发现的陀螺结构激发了本研究项目开发建筑壳细胞材料并通过AM制造它们。晶格由于其几何结构的不规则性而遭受应力集中，而壳细胞材料具有光滑和连续的表面，使其成为具有高能量吸收能力的理想先进轻质材料。由于三周期最小表面（TPMS）的共面应力，结构壳细胞材料可以提供一类新型的轻质拉伸主导的细胞固体，具有超高刚度和能量吸收性能。该项目的目标是采用增材制造技术，通过调整其几何特征和采用结构层次概念，开发具有优化架构的高性能TPMS壳体家族。考虑到建筑壳细胞材料在开发具有能量吸收和热交换能力的轻质承重结构元件方面的巨大潜力，Axis Prototypes（一家提供高质量AM服务的加拿大领先3D打印公司）赞助了该研究项目，并将直接与麦吉尔大学的研究团队合作，设计、3D打印、并对结构壳细胞材料进行表征，将其作为新型多功能材料引入航空航天、汽车和能源领域。由于加拿大的3D打印公司数量正在快速增长，该研究项目在发展中的先进制造业和最先进的工程设计之间架起了一座桥梁，为加拿大公司成为先进轻质材料先进制造领域的领导者提供了一个很好的机会。

Nature has always been a great source of inspiration for designers to come up with novel ideas and to improve the performance of engineering materials and structures. Advances in material characterization, computational modeling, and additive manufacturing (AM) have enabled researchers to decipher the intricate microstructure of natural materials and to develop innovative, but manufacturable, architected cellular materials. As an example of cellular materials, gyroid structures found in butterfly wing scales inspires this research project to develop architected shellular materials and fabricate them by AM. Opposed to lattices, which suffer from stress concentration due to the irregularity of their geometrical architectures, shellular materials possess smooth and continuous surfaces that make them an ideal advanced lightweight material with a high energy absorption capability. Due to the coplanar stresses in triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS), architected shellular materials can offer a new class of lightweight stretching-dominated cellular solids with ultrahigh stiffness and energy absorption properties. The objective of this project is to employ AM technology to develop high-performance families of TPMS shellulars with optimized architectures by tuning their geometrical features and resorting to structural hierarchy concept. Considering the enormous potential of architected shellular materials for developing lightweight load-bearing structural elements with energy absorbing and heat exchanging capabilities, Axis Prototypes (a leading Canadian 3D printing company that offers high-quality AM services) sponsors this research project and will directly collaborate with the McGill's research team to design, 3D print, and characterize architected shellular materials to introduce them as novel multifunctional materials for parts used in aerospace, automotive, and energy sectors. Since the number of 3D printing companies in Canada is fast growing, this research project forms a bridge between the developing advanced manufacturing industries and state-of-the-art engineering design and provides a great opportunity for Canadian companies to become leaders in the field of advanced manufacturing of advanced lightweight materials.