Additive manufacturing has enabled the creation of complex new structural metamaterials consisting of
truss architectures carefully tailored to control the overall, effective properties of the resulting metamaterials with individual truss features down on nanometer- and micron-scales. Those fabrication processes
provide new opportunities but they also come with disadvantages, e.g., in the form of geometric imperfections – 3D-printed trusses at small scales deviate significantly from their target geometry. Examples
include variations in cross-sectional area, wavy beams, and perturbed nodal locations. This project
aims to systematically (theoretically and numerically) explore the influence of geometric imperfections
on the effective nonlinear response of truss networks. From experiments one can quantify the statistics of imperfections (e.g., providing mean values and standard deviations of the aforementioned truss
parameters). Given a particular truss architecture and statistical information about its imperfections, what are the statistical variations in the expected mechanical behavior in response to applied loads and deformation? To what extent is this relation influenced by the truss architecture, and are certain classes
of truss topologies more prone to imperfections than others? While the impact on linear elastic properties like the elastic moduli is relatively well understood, what is the effect on the nonlinear and inelastic
behavior? These questions are to be addressed primarily through finite-element studies (to be set up in our in-house FEM code) and the statistical interpretation of results, complemented by theoretical investigations.
Additive manufacturing has enabled the creation of complex new structural metamaterials consisting of truss architectures carefully tailored to control the overall, effective properties of the resulting metamaterials with individual truss features down on nanometer- and micron-scales. Those fabrication processes provide new opportunities but they also come with disadvantages, e.g., in the form of geometric imperfections – 3D-printed trusses at small scales deviate significantly from their target geometry. Examples include variations in cross-sectional area, wavy beams, and perturbed nodal locations. This project aims to systematically (theoretically and numerically) explore the influence of geometric imperfections on the effective nonlinear response of truss networks. From experiments one can quantify the statistics of imperfections (e.g., providing mean values and standard deviations of the aforementioned truss parameters). Given a particular truss architecture and statistical information about its imperfections, what are the statistical variations in the expected mechanical behavior in response to applied loads and deformation? To what extent is this relation influenced by the truss architecture, and are certain classes of truss topologies more prone to imperfections than others? While the impact on linear elastic properties like the elastic moduli is relatively well understood, what is the effect on the nonlinear and inelastic behavior? These questions are to be addressed primarily through finite-element studies (to be set up in our in-house FEM code) and the statistical interpretation of results, complemented by theoretical investigations.
Not specified
Raphael Glaesener
Mechanics & Materials
Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering
Leonhardstr. 21, LEE N203
email: raphaegl@ethz.ch
Raphael Glaesener Mechanics & Materials Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering Leonhardstr. 21, LEE N203 email: raphaegl@ethz.ch