Superior compressive properties of 3D printed plate lattice mechanical metamaterials

Over the past decades, the demand for high-performance materials with lightweight and enhanced mechanical properties has gradually increased. The cellular structure, theoretically excellent mechanical performance, and tunable low density make the lattice structure an ideal structure. In the past, research on complex structures was limited by manufacturing technology. The advent of additive manufacturing has enabled detailed studies of such lattice structures. Simple Cubic (SC) plate lattice is believed to be capable of reaching the theoretical limitation of mechanical performance in nanoscale; thus, it is of great significance to explore potential application of this cubic plate lattice. In this work, projection micro-stereolithography (PµSL) was used to print cubic plate lattices. The effect of geometrical parameters on mechanical properties was studied. Results demonstrate that increasing the number of cells leads to a superior increase in compressive strength and energy absorption, which shows obvious mechanical metamaterials properties. Moreover, the specific energy absorption of these polymeric lattices can even outperform stainless steel lattices, indicating that they have great potential for applications in high energy absorption, strength, and light-weighting.