A Comparison of Synthesis Methods for Cellular Structures with Application to Additive Manufacturing

摘要

Cellular material structures, such as honeycombs and lattice structures, have beenrnengineered at the mesoscale for high performance and multifunctional capabilities. We desirernefficient algorithms for searching the large, complex design spaces associated with cellularrnstructures. In this paper, we present a comparison of two synthesis methods, Particle SwarmrnOptimization (PSO) and least-squares minimization (LSM), for the design of componentsrncomprised of cellular structures. Computational characteristics of the algorithms are reported forrndesign problems with hundreds of variables. Constraints from SLS and direct-metalrnmanufacturing processes are incorporated to ensure that resulting designs are realizable. Two 2-rndimensional examples are used to study the characteristics of the proposed synthesis methods.