Energy absorption properties of macro triclinic lattice structures with twin boundaries inspired by microstructure of feldspar twinning crystals

Inspired by the microstructure of the triclinic crystal material, in this work we designed triclinic lattice structures (TC) with twin boundaries for energy absorption application. The deformation mode and energy absorption capacity of TCs under the quasi-static compression are investigated by finite element method, which is validated by the experiments on the TC specimen additively manufactured by the selective laser sintering (SLS) method. The TC design is further extended to the triclinic body-centered cubic lattice structures (TBCC). The results indicate that introducing twin boundaries into the lattice structure can control the deformation mode and thus improve the energy absorption performance. The energy absorption increases with the number of twin boundaries in both TCs and TBCCs. In addition, the plateau stress and the equivalent grain size of the proposed structures are found to also obey the Hall-Petch relationship that is prevalent in the polycrystal materials. This work verifies the feasibility of the approach of designing novel lattice structures by mimicking the material microstructures.

Automated summary

Inspired by the microstructure of triclinic crystal material, lattice structures with twin boundaries were designed for energy absorption application. Introducing twin boundaries controls deformation mode and improves energy absorption performance, with both TCs and TBCCs showing increased energy absorption with more twin boundaries. The designed structures also follow the Hall-Petch relationship, confirming the feasibility of designing novel lattice structures by mimicking material microstructures.