Design of dual-phase lattice materials with balanced modulus, strength and energy absorption properties based on Sudoku arranged reinforcement phase distribution

In this paper, the effect of the distribution pattern of the reinforcement phase on the mechanical prop-erties was studied for the simple-cubic matrix dual-phase lattices given the same second phase propor-tion. Two reinforcement phases, the body centered cubic and the face centered cubic cells, were investigated. Specifically, a novel distribution pattern of reinforcement phase inspired from Sudoku algo-rithm was proposed to design the dual-phase lattices with balanced elastic modulus, strength and energy absorption properties. Comparisons were made for mechanical performances of five types of distribu-tions, i.e., the layer distribution, column distribution, Sudoku distribution, random distribution and sym-metry distribution through extensive finite element simulations. The results indicate that the scattered distribution of the reinforcement phase is beneficial to the investigated mechanical properties. To guide the design of dual-phase lattices, a parameter called degree of concentration is introduced to describe the distribution of reinforcement phase. In general, the mechanical properties are inversely related to degree of concentration. The proposed Sudoku dual-phase lattice possesses zero degree of concentration along any of the three principle directions, thus exhibits advantageous isotropic mechanical properties. This paper provides a new avenue for the design of multi-phase lattice materials. & COPY; 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Automated summary

This paper investigates the effect of the distribution pattern of reinforcement phase on the mechanical properties of simple-cubic matrix dual-phase lattices. Two reinforcement phases, body centered cubic and face centered cubic cells, are studied. A novel distribution pattern based on Sudoku algorithm is proposed to achieve balanced properties. Finite element simulations compare five distribution types and indicate that scattered distribution of reinforcement phase is beneficial. A parameter called degree of concentration is introduced to guide lattice design, where mechanical properties are inversely related. The proposed Sudoku dual-phase lattice exhibits advantageous isotropic mechanical properties.