Authors: Gaurav Gugale
Abstract: Lightweight porous structures have gained significant attention across aerospace, biomedical, and automotive applications due to their exceptional specific energy absorption (SEA) and strength-to-weight ratios. Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (TPMS), specifically Gyroid and Diamond sheet-based architectures, offer superior stress distribution and high permeability over traditional strut-based lattice systems. This study investigates the elastoplastic compressive behavior of 316L stainless steel TPMS lattices fabricated via Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF). Non-linear Finite Element Analysis (FEA) incorporating Johnson-Cook plasticity and ductile damage models was conducted and benchmarked against experimental uniaxial quasi-static compression tests. The results demonstrate that sheet-Gyroid architectures exhibit stable, progressive collapse modes with a 28.4% increase in SEA compared to Diamond lattices at an equivalent relative density of ρ* = 0.30. Furthermore, a Gibson-Ashby scaling relationship was established to predict the effective modulus and plateau stress across relative densities from 0.15 to 0.45.
