Simulation Analysis of Lightweight Cylindrical Lattice Materials with Different Unit Cells

To address the difficulty of designing lattice material structures, five different unit cells are presented including edge structure, vertex structure, face center structure, interconnect vertex structure and cross face center structure. The finite element analysis (FEA) method is introduced to analyze the mechanical properties of these five typical unit cells. It is indicated that, when stressed, bended or twisted with the same shape, size, mass, and loading force by changing their cellular pillar section R, the edge structure possesses optimal performance. The simulation results of the functional efficiency and bearing efficiency data obtained for various unit cells could shed some light on the lattice material designing under different loading conditions.