Stochastic prediction of apparent compressive stiffness of selective laser sintered lattice structure with geometrical imperfection and uncertainty in material property

Aiming at the future applications of a lattice structure manufactured by selective laser sintering for bone scaffold in the biomedical field, by putting highlight on the possible imperfections influenced by different manufacturing strategies, a numerical prediction method was studied and compared with compressive test results. To consider the geometrical imperfections as well as the uncertainty in sintered material property, the first-order perturbation based stochastic homogenization (FPSH) method was employed. To be able to compare products made by three different printing service companies, maraging steel was used in this study, which was commonly available. Several geometrical imperfections were categorized into kink, notch and hole, and representative dimensions were parameterized and measured statistically using micro-CT images. They were also correlated to the building direction and support types. The numerical prediction revealed the reduction of stiffness in a stochastic way qualitatively. The constructed database of the geometrical imperfections and the FPSH method will be useful in the next occasion of manufacturing unexperienced product. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.