Parametric design of Voronoi-based lattice porous structures

A new parametric method for the design of Voronoi-based lattice porous structures is proposed in this paper. First, the functional relationship between the porosity p, the number of seed points n, and the beam radius r is established. The design space is then divided into individual unit cells, and the seed points and beam radius values of each unit cell are calculated. In each unit cell, Voronoi tessellation is used to generate uniformly distributed seed points. Finally in the design space, all seed points are Voronoi tessellated globally, and the edges are cylindered with corresponding beam radius values. With this design method, not only can the lattice structures with uniform or graded distribution of porosity be generated, but the customized lattice structures can also be generated according to the porosity of each unit cell. Through the analysis of model data, it is verified that the uniform distribution of seed points in this paper is stable and the porosity of the model is consistent with the design value. The distribution of pore spheres between pores is used to illustrate that the lattice porous structures designed in this paper is globally controllable and locally uniform. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.