Design, Inspection, and Testing of As-Built and Infiltrated Additively Manufactured Aluminum Lattice Truss Structures

Author(s):

Marc Pepi, Jennifer Sietins, Rich Martukanitz, Corey Dickman, Ken Meinert, Rik Riman, Paul Moy, Vincent Wu, Ray Wildman, Mingling Tao, and Mengxuan Zhao

Abstract:

Lightweight aluminum-alloy lattice truss structures were designed for optimized compressive strength and additively manufactured using the direct metal laser-sintering technique. A number of the trusses were infiltrated with a low-temperature solidified ceramic and a geopolymer formulation, both environmentally favorable alternatives to Portland cement. Some trusses were infiltrated with dicyclopentadiene for comparison. Micro-computed tomography inspection was performed prior to compression testing and detected microcracks in both the fill materials and actual trusses as well as porosity within the fill materials. This information was useful in predicting the comparative compressive strength of the infiltrated trusses.