Global optimization design tool for additively manufactured heterogeneous microlattice structures

Abstract

For many industries, reducing weight and increasing strength of structural parts are of utmost importance, especially in the transportation sector. With the availability and improvements in additive manufacturing, new lightweight designs can be more easily fabricated, microlattice structures being the most common. This is the reason that research on microlattice structures has increased to continue in this quest of reducing weight and increasing strength. The research presented in this thesis includes the study of five different known homogeneous microlattice structures, and the development of some lattice structure performance metrics. The research presented in this thesis also includes the creation of a new lattice structure design and optimization program that designs and optimizes fully heterogeneous microlattice structures using global optimization algorithms, and the comparison between two global optimization algorithms to determine which algorithm is better suited for the design and optimization program.