Basic research of the consideration of additive manufactured lattice structures under thermoand fluid dynamic loads

¹ Aachen University of applied sciences, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics, Goethestr. 1, 52064 Aachen, GER
² Institut für werkzeuglose Fertigung GmbH/Institute for toolless fabrication (IwF), Campus–Boulevard 79, 52074 Aachen, GER

^* Corresponding author: abbas@fh-aachen.de

Abstract

This scientific research deals with lattice structures manufactured with laser powder bed fusion. Laser powder bed fusion is part of additive manufacturing. The so called layered construction is an increasingly used innovative manufacturing process that can be used to realize new design possibilities. Lightweight structures or bionic structures play a key role here. The focus of this work is on periodic lattice structures. In addition to saving resources and reducing the weight of components, lattice structures have particularly pronounced mechanical properties. However, little is known about their thermo- and fluid-dynamic properties. This work describes the first influencing factors of lattice structures ina thermo- and fluid-dynamic context using a case study. The aim of this paper is to evaluate important design and simulation criteria of lattice structures. Different lattice structures are considered, whose strut geometry is varied. The case study is carried out using a heat exchanger. While classical heat exchangers have lamellar structures, the substitution of these by lattice structures is evaluated. Thiswork represents a first consideration of the most important parameters and gives an overview of the most important core points.