Experimental testing of AlSi10Mg lattice structures manufactured with DMLS technology

Lattice structures are widely used in several fields such as in the aerospace, biomedical and automotive industries. Among the others, their efficiency in thermal dissipation, the high capability to absorb energy from impacts coupled with improved specific mechanical properties contributed to attract the attention of designers and researchers. Moreover, in the last decade, the development of more efficient additive manufacturing (AM) techniques and the possibility to obtain complex architectures further boosted their employment with remarkable benefits in terms of production costs, material saving and environmental impact. This study introduces a novel modification of the standard body-centred cubic (BCC) lattice, referred to as the waved body-centred cubic (WBCC), which features curvilinear struts. In this work, direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) AM was employed to fabricate WBCC lattice structures. The experimental campaign focused on two types of specimens: compression samples and sandwich flexural specimens. A comparative analysis between WBCC and BCC lattice structures was also carried out by using existing analytical models to highlight the differences in their mechanical response. The experimental tests indicate that WBCC lattice structures offer some advantages over the conventional BCC design, providing enhanced mechanical performance for specific applications, with increased stiffness and reduced weight.