A Novel Rapid Manufacturing Process for Metal Lattice Structure

Abstract

A novel lattice structure manufacturing process is proposed in this article, which has the potential to overcome the manufacturing shortcomings of small-scale metal lattice structure. The proposed hierarchical process has four segments: Design, Bending, Dip, and Join (DBDJ). The proposed research use one-dimensional metallic wires/rods instead of powder, two-dimensional sheet, or liquid metal, which is highly transformative than the <i>status quo</i>. The topology-based design technique is focused to construct the lattice structure using a continuous thin rod. The layers are stacked in an additive manner to construct the three-dimensional lattice structure. The dip-coating meditate material transfer facilitates the node joining using transient liquid phase diffusion bonding, and hence, the manufacturing of the complex lattice structure is performed. The research framework provides a unique and holistic approach from design to manufacturing for realizing small-scale metallic lattice structure. A range of multiscale lattice structure is manufactured with the proposed DBDJ process. Very low relative density (∼3.8%) unit cell is achieved, and compressive tests demonstrate no failure at the joining node, which is reported in this article.