Investigation on numerical analysis and mechanics experiments for topology optimization of functionally graded lattice structure

Abstract

A physical driven method for constructing functionally graded lattice structure is proposed by extending the conventional Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization (SIMP) method with linear buckling load factors and total volume constraints rather than introducing local volume constraints. It can efficiently and effectively construct functionally graded lattice structure by using the SIMP material model for topology optimization with different buckling load factors according to the linearized buckling criteria and the same volume fraction, which greatly improved both the stability and stiffness of the optimal structure. Furthermore, the optimized structures of the illustrative cases are manufactured by means of the fused deposition modeling. Both the numerical analysis and mechanics experiments are further conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method compared with the structural topology optimization with SIMP method and the infill structure. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time to validate the topology optimization of functionally graded lattice structure via both numerical analysis and mechanics experiments.