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Force-flow guided reinforcement design of homogeneous mesoscale structure in additive manufacturing

Ying Yu (School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China)
Huan Huang (School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China)
Shuo Wang (School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China)
Shuaishuai Li (School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China)
Yu Wang (Sino-German College of Applied Sciences, Tongji University, Shanghai, China)

Rapid Prototyping Journal

ISSN: 1355-2546

Article publication date: 23 September 2022

Issue publication date: 27 January 2023

171

Abstract

Purpose

The mesoscale structure (MS) has a significant impact on the mechanical performance of parts made by additive manufacturing (AM). This paper aims to explore the design and fabrication of force-flow guided reinforcement mesoscale structure (FFRMS) compared with the homogeneous mesoscale structure (HMS), which is inconsistent with the stress field for a given load condition. Some cases were presented to demonstrate the mechanical properties of FFRMS in terms of MS combined with quasi-isotropy and anisotropy.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper consists of four main sections: the first developed the concept of FFRMS design based on HMS, the second explored volume fraction control for the proportion of force-flow lines in terms of mechanical property requirement, and the third presented a sequence stacking theory and practical manufacturing process framework and the final sections provided some application case studies.

Findings

The main contributions of this study were the definition and development of the FFRMS concept, the application framework and the original case studies. As an example, a typical lug designed with the proposed FFRMS method was fabricated by three different AM processes. The test results showed that both the strength and stiffness of the specimens are improved greatly by using the FFRMS design method.

Originality/value

The superposition of HMS as the basement and force-flow as an indication of the stiffener, leading to a heterogeneous structure, which exhibits more efficient and diversified means compared with the traditional way of increasing the HMS density merely.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 51675383], [No. 52175244].

Citation

Yu, Y., Huang, H., Wang, S., Li, S. and Wang, Y. (2023), "Force-flow guided reinforcement design of homogeneous mesoscale structure in additive manufacturing", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 259-274. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-12-2021-0335

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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