Manufacturing issues and the resulting complexity in modeling of additively manufactured metallic microlattices

Although metallic microlattice material is a sought after research topic currently, it suffers from manufacturing defects such as micro-voids formation due to missed fusion, stemmed from the stacking-layered-fused nature of the metal powder in Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) process. These defects result in weakening of the finished part and reduced mechanical performance under service load, possibly leading to low fatigue strength, and raise serious question about 3D printed structural integrity. Numerical simulation of the built parts also becomes difficult due to irregular physical properties including geometry and anisotropic nature of mechanical properties. This paper provides an overview on the manufacturing issues and the subsequent hurdle faced in numerical simulation of metallic microlattices. While the issues in manufacturing are related to emerging additive manufacturing techniques and out of control of end users, it has been suggested that the limitations in numerical simulation can be overcome by employing advanced approaches, in both physical properties measurement and modeling.