Synchronous involvement of topology and microstructure to design additively manufactured lattice structures

This article presents a methodical approach to optimize microstructure (e.g., the crystallographic texture) and topology (e.g., unit cell and struts) concurrently to improve the mechanical properties of additively manufactured metallic lattice structures (AMLS), i.e., yield strength and plastic flow stress. Full-field elasto-viscoplastic Fast Fourier Transform (EVP-FFT) crystal plasticity (CP) simulations are employed to determine the optimal microstructure. The CP model parameters were calibrated to measured macroscopic stress–strain response and microstructural data for polycrystalline samples of additively manufactured (AM) Inconel 718 with solution treated and aged (STA) microstructure. Since the crystallographic orientation of the constituent single-crystal grains with respect to the loading direction has a significant impact on the mechanical behavior of the material, stress projection factor analysis was used to determine four candidate textures to explore in for a given unit cell topology. Full-field crystal plasticity simulations were used to determine macroscale yield surface parameters for each of the considered textures, thereby enabling macroscale lattice unit cell simulations that account for the underlying microstructure. The calibrated microstructure-dependent yield surfaces are used to investigate the effect of different microstructures on the mechanical response of different LS topologies with the same relative density. The results show that in a texture with <111> crystallographic direction, parallel to the loading direction, the tensile and compressive yield strength are 20% and 58% larger, respectively compared to the AM STA IN718 texture. Furthermore, when this texture is used in conjunction with the Rhoctan topology, the results demonstrate 50% improvement in both the yield strength and modulus of elasticity relative to previously optimized AMLS designs that did not directly account for microstructure. This simultaneous consideration of microstructure and topology during optimization, thus, significantly enhances the structural integrity of the AMLS.