Multi-objective design optimization of additively manufactured lattice structures for improved energy absorption performance

This paper aims to improve the energy absorption performance of stiffness-optimized lattice structures by utilizing a multi-objective surrogate-based size optimization that considers the additive manufacturing (AM) constraints such as the minimum printable size. A truss optimization is first utilized at the unit cell level under static compressive loads for stiffness maximization and two optimized lattice configurations called the Face-Body Centered Cubic (FBCC) lattice and the Octet Cubic (OC) are obtained. A multi-objective size optimization process is then carried out to improve the energy absorption capabilities of those lattice designs using non-linear compression simulations with Nylon12 material to be fabricated by the Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) AM process. Thin plate spline (TPS) interpolation method is found to produce very high accuracy as the surrogate model to predict the highly nonlinear response surfaces of energy absorption objectives in the optimization. Compared to the lattice designs with uniform strut diameters, by using the optimization process, the maximum energy absorption efficiency (EAE(m)) and the crush stress efficiency (CSE) of the OC lattice design are further improved up to 33% and 37%, respectively. The FBCC lattice design is also found to have superior EAE(m) performance compared to the existing lattice types considered for fabricating by the MJF process in the literature.