A Generalized Optimality Criteria Method for Optimization of Additively Manufactured Multimaterial Lattice Structures

Recent progress in Additive Manufacturing (AM) allows for printing customized products with multiple materials and complex geometries that could form the basis of multi-material designs with high performance and novel functions. Effectively designing such complex products for optimal performance within the confines of additive manufacturing constraints is challenging due to the need to consider fabrication constraints while searching for optimal designs with a large number of variables, which stem from new AM capabilities. In this study, fabrication constraints are addressed through empirically characterizing multiple printed materials’ Young’s modulus and density using a multi-material inkjet-based 3D-printer. Data curves are modeled for the empirical data describing two base printing materials and twelve mixtures of them as inputs for a computational optimization process. An optimality criteria method is developed to search for solutions of multi-material lattices with fixed topology and truss cross-section sizes. Two representative optimization studies are presented and demonstrate higher performance with multi-material approaches in comparison to using a single material. These include the optimization of a cubic lattice structure that must adhere to a fixed displacement constraint and a compliant beam lattice structure that must meet multiple fixed displacement constraints. Results demonstrate the feasibility of the approach as a general synthesis and optimization method for multi-material, lightweight lattice structures that are large-scale and manufacturable on a commercial AM printer directly from the design optimization results.