Investigation of the compressive characteristics of mg alloy strut lattices fabricated via additive manufacturing-assisted casting

This study examines the relationship between the compression mechanical properties of metallic lattices produced via additive manufacturing-assisted investment casting and masked stereolithography apparatus (mSLA) methods. The AM60B magnesium alloy, which is frequently employed as a primary material in the automotive industry, was employed to fabricate the lattice structures for the tests. Two types of lattice structures were designed and manufactured: a standard strut-based lattice and a strut-based diamond lattice. These structures were produced in two different cell sizes: 6 mm and 4.5 mm. The compressive mechanical performance is experimentally evaluated to determine the elastic stiffness, peak stress, plateau stress, and overall energy absorption for each case. The Taguchi method was utilized to identify the maximum peak and energy absorption capacity. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to evaluate the effects of different factors. The progression of deformation in lattice structures during compression testing was also examined. The findings indicate that the diamond lattice arrangement surpasses the standard type regarding maximum force and energy absorption. The impact of cell size is considerable: a diminished cell size (4.5 mm) consistently yields enhanced results for both force and energy absorption.