A Comparison of Cellular Lattice Structures with Curved and Straight Inclined Walls

This paper compares hexagonal cellular lattice structures with straight and curved inclined walls, with cell angles varying between 15-60 deg, and wall thickness ratios between 5-20%. For loading in the y-direction, curved inclined walls exhibited in a higher modulus, with the largest increases at the highest cell angles examined (60 deg). Conversely, for loading in the x-direction, curved inclined walls exhibit a lower modulus with the greatest decreases at the lowest cell angles examined (15 deg). The predicted differences in stiffness between cells with straight and curved inclined walls is experimentally demonstrated. The increase in y-modulus as well as the reduction in x-modulus with the curved inclined walls is attributed to the lower wall slope at the wall junctions. The peak von-Mises stress at the junctions is generally lower for curved wall cells than for straight wall cells. The reduction exceeds 25% for loading both in the x-direction and y-direction.