Variable offsets and processing of implicit forms toward the adaptive synthesis and analysis of heterogeneous conforming microstructure

Abstract

The synthesis of porous, lattice, or microstructure geometries has captured the attention of many researchers in recent years. Implicit forms, such as triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) has captured a significant attention, recently, as tiles in lattices, partially because implicit forms have the potential for synthesizing with ease more complex topologies of tiles, compared to parametric forms. In this work, we show how variable offsets of implicit forms could be used in lattice design as well as lattice analysis, while graded wall and edge thicknesses could be fully controlled in the lattice and even vary within a single tile. As a result, (geometrically) heterogeneous lattices could be created and adapted to follow analysis results while maintaining continuity between adjacent tiles. We demonstrate this ability on several 3D models, including TPMS.