Compression behavior of three-dimensional printed polymer lattice structures

This paper focuses on the compression behavior of additively manufactured or three-dimensional printed polymer lattice structures of different configurations. The body-centered cubic lattice unit cell, which has been extensively investigated for energy absorption applications, is the starting point for this research. In this study, the lattice structure based on the body-centered cubic unit cell was modified by adding vertical struts in different arrangements to create three additional configurations. Four lattice structure designs were selected for comparison: the basic unit cell (body centered cubic), body centered cubic with vertical struts added to all nodes in the lattice, body centered cubic with vertical struts added to alternate nodes in the lattice, and body centered cubic with gradient in the number of vertical bars in the lattice. Samples of all four designs were prepared using acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene polymer by three-dimensional printing. The stiffness, failure loads, and energy absorption behaviors of all four configurations were determined under quasi-static compression loading. Specific properties were calculated by normalizing the test properties by the sample mass. It is observed from experimental data that selective placement of vertical support struts in the unit cell influences both the absolute and specific mechanical properties of lattice structures.