Optimized Design of 3D Printed Lightweight Architected Shellular Materials

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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.