RUI: Design and Fabrication of Components with Optimized Intertwined Lattice Microstructures

这项研究的目的是创造一种设计和制造具有优化的复合微结构的结构部件的工艺。这里的术语“微结构”指的是部件的内部结构，其规模与部件的规模相比很小；例如，与本项目相关的微观结构不是微观的。研究计划的主要阶段包括：(1)创建多尺度设计流程以优化部件及其微结构，(微结构的几何形状将是晶格，或者对于具有多种组成材料的复合材料，将是一组相互交织的晶格，迭代设计过程将以不同的步骤处理材料密度、各向异性和取向，以确定晶格的最佳旋转和扭曲以创建优化的微结构)，(2)基于实体自由形状制造的精炼和扩展混合制造技术，以构建具有精细尺度的微结构的部件，以及(3)设计、制造和测试示例部件。如果成功，这项研究将导致设计和制造轻量化、高性能结构和机械部件的实用程序。在部件内设计微结构的能力将提供在适当的地方调整材料属性的机会，并通过梯度而不是间断来调整属性。将这一概念应用于由多种组成材料制成的复合材料，可以设计出具有两种不同材料属性的组件，例如，刚度和导热或导电性，并进行独立优化。

The objective of this research is to create a process for the design and fabrication of structural components with optimized composite microstructures. Here the term "microstructure" refers to the component's inner structure, the scale of which is small compared to the scale of the component; the microstructure is not, for examples relevant to this project, microscopic. The major phases of the research program include: (1) creating a multi-scale design process to optimize a component and its microstructure, (the microstructure's geometry will be a lattice or, for composites with multiple constituent materials, a set of intertwined lattices and the iterative design process will address material density, anisotropy, and orientation in distinct steps, identifying optimal rotations and distortions for the lattice to create an optimized microstructure), (2) refining and extending hybrid fabrication techniques, based on Solid Freeform Fabrication, to construct the components with finely scaled microstructures, and (3) designing, fabrication and testing example components. If successful, this research will lead to practical procedures for the design and fabrication of lightweight, high performance structure and machine parts. The ability to design the microstructure within a component will provide the opportunity to adjust material properties where appropriate, and to adjust the properties via gradients rather than discontinuities. Applying this concept to composites made from multiple constituent materials, one could design a component that has two different material properties, for example, stiffness and thermal or electrical conductivity, optimized independently.