Computational Design and Optimization of Additively Manufactured Lattice Structures

Recent advances in Additive Manufacturing (AM) enable the fabrication of 3D objects that are difficult or impossible to create with conventional manufacturing technologies. When AM technologies are utilized in combination with computational optimization methods, it is possible to control the distribution of materials within objects with a high degree of precision. This has the potential to dramatically improve structural performance and even enable new functionalities that can not be realized through conventional manufacturing. However, this is highly challenging for designers due to the vast design space of new possible geometries and the need to consider AM fabrication constraints. To address these challenges, this research develops advanced computational design methods to automatically generate and optimize lattice structures subject to the constraints of a particular AM process and materials so that they are directly realizable without any additional post-processing.