Iranian Journal of Mechanical Engineering Transactions of ISME

Iranian Journal of Mechanical Engineering Transactions of ISME

Investigation of Bending Stiffness in Cellular Lattice Structures Composed of Beam Elements using the Finite Element Method

Author
Mohammadreza Kamranfard
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran
10.30506/ijmep.2025.2056894.2010
Abstract
Additive manufacturing (AM) and the creation of cellular lattice structures represent one of the most advanced material production methods, with applications in industries such as medical and aerospace. Among the most widely used cellular lattice structures are those composed of beam elements. These beam elements can be modeled as beams with varying cross-sectional shapes. In this study, the bending stiffness of cellular lattice structures composed of beam elements is investigated for five unit cell topologies: BCC, BCCZ, FCC, FCCZ, and Cubic, each with two beam cross-sectional shapes (rectangular and I-shaped). The analysis is performed using the Finite Element Method (FEM). A comparison of the cross-sectional shapes reveals that, for all five topologies, structures with I-shaped struts exhibit a higher bending stiffness-to-weight ratio compared to those with rectangular struts. Furthermore, through optimization based on a finite element approach, by rotating the beam elements of the entire lattice structure around the axis perpendicular to each beam’s cross-section, the bending stiffness-to-weight ratio of the studied lattice structures is improved.
Keywords
Additive manufacturing
Cellular lattice structures
Strut-based structures
Bending stiffness analysis
Finite element method

Subjects

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  • Receive Date 31 March 2025
  • Revise Date 16 June 2025
  • Accept Date 09 August 2025