Optimized Design of 3D Printed Lightweight Architected Shellular Materials

大自然一直是设计师提出新奇想法和改善工程材料和结构性能的巨大灵感源泉。材料表征、计算建模和添加剂制造(AM)方面的进展使研究人员能够破译天然材料复杂的微结构，并开发创新的但可制造的结构多孔材料。作为细胞材料的一个例子，在蝴蝶翼鳞中发现的回转结构启发了本研究项目开发架构化的细胞材料，并利用AM制造它们与晶格材料不同的是，晶格材料由于其几何结构的不规则性而遭受应力集中，而脱胞材料具有光滑和连续的表面，使其成为一种理想的先进轻质材料，具有很高的能量吸收能力。由于三重周期极小表面(TPMS)中的共面应力，构筑的胞外材料可以提供一类以拉伸为主的新型轻质蜂窝固体，具有超高的刚度和能量吸收性能。本项目的目标是利用AM技术，通过调整结构的几何特征和结构层次的概念，开发具有优化结构的高性能TPMS贝壳家族。考虑到结构化细胞材料在开发具有吸能和换热能力的轻质承重结构元件方面的巨大潜力，Axis Prototype(加拿大领先的3D打印公司，提供高质量AM服务)赞助了这一研究项目，并将直接与McGill的研究团队合作设计、3D打印和表征结构化细胞材料，将其作为用于航空航天、汽车和能源行业部件的新型多功能材料。由于加拿大3D打印公司的数量正在快速增长，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建立了一座桥梁，并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巨大的机会。

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.