Design of Lattice Structures Based on SLM for TC4 Titanium Alloy and Their Compression Behavior

The uniform and gradient lattice structures of TC4 titanium alloy were fabricated using SLM technology. The effects of different rod diameters (ranging from 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm), cell types (bcc, fcc, fbcc), and adding vertical struts (bccz, fccz, fbccz) on the compressive properties and energy absorption of both uniform and gradient lattice structures were investigated. The results indicate that the lattice structure with 1.2 mm in rod diameter exhibits the best performance. The fccz and fbccz lattice structures exhibit the best performance in terms of both mass and volume efficiency, respectively. The presence of vertical struts significantly enhances the performance of lattice structures under specific loading conditions. Compression performance and energy absorption of uniform lattice structures before failure are better than those of gradient lattice structures with the same relative density and strain. Due to the layer-by-layer fracture characteristic of gradient lattice structures, they have better performance under 50% and larger strain conditions, and they are more suitable for application in energy absorption devices. © 2024 Science Press. All rights reserved.