A geometric modelling framework to support the design of heterogeneous lattice structures with non-linearly varying geometry
For the additive manufacturing industry, this work addresses the gap between manufacturing capabilities and geometric modelling by enabling more complex lattice structures, though it is an incremental improvement over existing methods.
The paper presents a novel geometric modelling methodology based on function representation to design heterogeneous lattice structures with non-linearly varying geometry, overcoming limitations of existing approaches that cannot model non-linear parameter variation or control multiple geometric parameters. A software prototype demonstrates the approach through several use-cases.
Geometric modelling has been a crucial component of the design process ever since the introduction of the first Computer-Aided Design (CAD) systems. Additive Manufacturing (AM) pushes design freedom to previously unachievable limits. AM allows the manufacturing of lattice structures which are otherwise close to impossible to be manufactured conventionally. Yet, the geometric modelling of heterogeneous lattice structures is still greatly limited. Thus, the AM industry is now in a situation where the manufacturing capabilities exceed the geometric modelling capabilities. While there have been advancements in the modelling of heterogeneous lattice structures, the review of relevant literature revealed critical limitations of the existing approaches. These limitations include their inability to model non-linear variation of geometric parameters, as well as the limited amount of controllable geometric parameters. This work presents a novel geometric modelling methodology based on function representation as an attempt to bridge this gap. The proposed approach avoids the manual definition of geometric parameters and provides a method to control them with mathematical functions instead. A software prototype implementing the proposed approach is presented, and several use-cases are analysed.