Design and 3D Printing Simulation of a Lattice Compressor Impeller

Abstract

Taking the compressor impeller as the research object, and based on the octagonal truss lattice structure, a novel lightweight lattice compressor impeller is designed, and its machinability is verified by using a SLM280 3D printer. In order to understand its 3D printing performance, the 3D printing process of the lattice impeller is simulated based on the finite element method (FEM). Based on the feasibility of using the numerical method to study the 3D printing process, the printing process of the lattice impeller at different power values is analyzed and compared with the solid compressor impeller under the same working condition. The results show that the layer deformation of the lattice impeller and the solid impeller is a process that increases layer by layer. Under the 7 working conditions studied in this paper, the maximum residual deformation and residual stress of the lattice impeller after printing are less than those of the solid impeller. The maximum residual deformation of the lattice impeller can be 20.19% smaller than that of the solid impeller, and the maximum residual stress can be 10.69% smaller than that of the solid impeller. This means that the lattice impeller is not only lighter, but also has a better printing performance than the solid impeller.

Keywords

• metal lattice structure impeller
• 3d printing of metal
• numerical simulation
• finite element method (fem)