Kedziora, S.; Decker, T.; Museyibov, E. Application of Functionally Graded Shell Lattice as Infill in Additive Manufacturing. Materials2023, 16, 4401.
Kedziora, S.; Decker, T.; Museyibov, E. Application of Functionally Graded Shell Lattice as Infill in Additive Manufacturing. Materials 2023, 16, 4401.
Kedziora, S.; Decker, T.; Museyibov, E. Application of Functionally Graded Shell Lattice as Infill in Additive Manufacturing. Materials2023, 16, 4401.
Kedziora, S.; Decker, T.; Museyibov, E. Application of Functionally Graded Shell Lattice as Infill in Additive Manufacturing. Materials 2023, 16, 4401.
Abstract
The presented research article shows a functionally graded lattice as an infill structure in designing a 3D printed mechanical element—a bicycle crank arm. The authors want to answer the fundamental question: whether the functionally graded lattice structures can efficiently improve structural performance and how they can be implemented in real complex components. Intuitively, everyone senses that using such elements must bring profit. A good example might be nature, which commonly reaches for such a solution in the skeletons of animals and humans. Two aspects determine their realisations: the lack of adequate construction and analysis methods and the limitations of existing manufacturing methods. Thus, the authors used relatively simple crank arm design and design exploration methods for structural analysis. The design exploration method enabled us to find the optimum solution efficiently. A developed prototype was created utilising additive manufacturing. One of the 3D printing methods - fused filament fabrication technology for metals, allowed the prototype of a crank arm with the optimised infill to be made. As a result, the authors developed a lightweight and manufacturable crank arm showing the new construction and analysis method implementable in similar 3D printed elements.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
