Isotropic Body-Centered Cubic (BCC) Lattice Structure Design

Additive manufacturing technology has made remarkable advancements, enabling the development of innovative structures by leveraging existing constraints. A notable area of exploration lies in lattice structures, which offer a promising alternative to solid components. Among the various lattice designs, the body-centered cubic (BCC) structure has gained popularity. Typically, BCC structures comprise diagonal struts, with equal diameters. In this study we propose a control anisotropic strategy by combining BCC and Crossing Cylinder (CC) structure in order to improve characteristics regarding shear and normal Young's modulus. This study aims to investigate the effect of varying the diameters of the center struts of CC and diagonal struts of BCC on two key parameters: the effective Young's modulus and the Zener anisotropic index A. To achieve this, a homogenization technique is employed, allowing the derivation of a stiffness matrix that characterizes the lattice. Subsequently, the Zener anisotropic index A and effective Young's modulus are computed based on the stiffness matrix. To establish a controlled comparison, a specific control strategy is implemented by systematically altering the ratio between the diameters of the center and diagonal struts. This ratio is maintained at values greater than 1 and less than 1 to ensure diverse structural configurations. The results of this research demonstrate that a ratio of 2.5 between the center and diagonal strut diameters yields the most favorable outcome, as evidenced by an obtained Zener anisotropic index A value of 1.08.