3D printing of dual phase-strengthened microlattices for lightweight micro aerial vehicles

Ran Xiao; Xiang Li; Huaiyuan Jia; James Utama Surjadi; Jingqi Li; Weitong Lin; Libo Gao; Pakpong Chirarattananon; Yang Lu

Materials & Design (Aug 2021)

3D printing of dual phase-strengthened microlattices for lightweight micro aerial vehicles

Ran Xiao,
Xiang Li,
Huaiyuan Jia,
James Utama Surjadi,
Jingqi Li,
Weitong Lin,
Libo Gao,
Pakpong Chirarattananon,
Yang Lu

Affiliations

Ran Xiao: Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Xiang Li: School of Sciences, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China; Nano-Manufacturing Laboratory (NML), Shenzhen Research Institute of City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518057, China
Huaiyuan Jia: Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
James Utama Surjadi: Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Jingqi Li: Nano-Manufacturing Laboratory (NML), Shenzhen Research Institute of City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518057, China
Weitong Lin: Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Libo Gao: School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xian 710071, China; CityU-Xidian Joint Laboratory of Micro/Nano-Manufacturing, Shenzhen 518057, China; Corresponding authors at: School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xian 710071, China (L. Gao); Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (P. Chirarattananon); Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Y. Lu).
Pakpong Chirarattananon: Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Corresponding authors at: School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xian 710071, China (L. Gao); Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (P. Chirarattananon); Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Y. Lu).
Yang Lu: Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Nano-Manufacturing Laboratory (NML), Shenzhen Research Institute of City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518057, China; CityU-Xidian Joint Laboratory of Micro/Nano-Manufacturing, Shenzhen 518057, China; Corresponding authors at: School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xian 710071, China (L. Gao); Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (P. Chirarattananon); Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Y. Lu).

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 206
p. 109767

Abstract

Read online

The rapid advancement in CAD and 3D printing technology have brought the rise of mechanical metamaterials which inspired from nature and have optimized microstructural features to exhibit superior mechanical properties over conventional materials for various structural applications. Here, by adopting dual-phase strengthening mechanism in crystallography, we proposed a microlattice strengthening strategy which incorporates stretching-dominated octet-truss (OCT) units as the second phase particles into the diagonal planes of the bending-dominated body-centered cubic (BCC) lattice matrix, to form an anisotropic OCT-BCC lattice. The OCT-BCC dual-phase microlattice possess superior specific compressive strengths that are ~300% and 600% higher than BCC microlattices along its horizontal direction and longitudinal direction, respectively, accompanied with a significant increase in stiffness and energy absorption as well. Moreover, a large-scale OCT-BCC lattice metamaterial with dimensions up to 5.0 cm × 2.0 cm × 1.0 cm was successfully manufactured and integrated into a micro aerial vehicle (MAV). The metamaterial-integrated MAV has an airframe that is ~65% lighter than its bulk counterpart, resulting in a significant increase (~40%) in flight duration. This work not only provides an effective metamaterial enhancement design strategy, but also promotes the practical application of large-scale 3D printed metamaterial in the field of micro unmanned aerial vehicle.

Published in Materials & Design

ISSN: 0264-1275 (Print); 1873-4197 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering: Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/materials-and-design

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords