Method for the design and manufacture of composites having tunable physical properties

A method for the design and manufacture of a replica composite object based on an original object, the manufacture accomplished using additive manufacturing, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a database including a plurality of base materials and bodies, each of the plurality of base materials and bodies including an associated at least one physical property;
• identifying at least one physical property of an original object by subjecting the original object to a physical stimulus;
• determining a desired replica composite object based on a structure of the original object, the replica composite object including at least one unit having at least one subunit, the at least one subunit including a selected at least one anisotropic physical property associated with the plurality of base materials and bodies stored in the database, the at least one physical property of the at least one subunit selected to match the at least one physical property of the original object, wherein the at least one anisotropic physical property exhibits orientation-dependent mechanical behavior;
• discretizing the at least one subunit into a finite number of single or multidimensional elements, each element having one or more associated anisotropic physical properties;
• calculating the selected at least one anisotropic physical property of the at least one subunit by subjecting the at least one subunit to a virtual stimulus based on the physical stimulus, and comparing the selected at least one physical property with the identified at least one physical property;
• comparing the selected at least one anisotropic physical property of the at least one subunit with the identified at least one physical property of the original object, and determining whether the selected at least one anisotropic physical property of the at least one subunit differs from the identified at least one physical property of the original object by more than a tolerance value;
• based on a determination that the selected at least one anisotropic physical property of the at least one subunit differs from the identified at least one physical property of the original object by more than the tolerance value, optimizing the at least one anisotropic physical property of the at least one subunit by adjusting the selected at least one anisotropic physical property of the at least one subunit, thereby adjusting a selected base material of the plurality of base materials and a selected body of the plurality of bodies;
• and
• based on a determination that the selected at least one anisotropic physical property of the at least one subunit differs from the identified at least one physical property of the original object by less than the tolerance value, instructing an additive manufacturing system to generate a physical object based on the replica composite object.

A method of optimizing a replica composite object manufactured via additive manufacturing, the method comprising:

• identifying a structure of an original object;
• identifying a physical property of the original object by subjecting the original object to a physical stimulus;
• selecting a base material and a body from a database containing a plurality of base materials and bodies, each base material and each body having at least one associated anisotropic physical property, wherein the at least one associated anisotropic physical property exhibits orientation-dependent mechanical behavior;
• determining a desired replica composite object based on a structure of the original object, the replica composite object including a plurality of units with each of the plurality of units having a plurality of subunits;
• each of the plurality of subunits including the selected base material and body from the database which are selected to match the identified physical property of the original object;
• discretizing each of the plurality of subunits into a finite number of single or multidimensional elements, wherein each element contains the same selected base material and body;
• calculating an anisotropic physical property of the selected base material and body by subjecting one or more of the single or multidimensional elements to a virtual stimulus based on the physical stimulus;
• comparing the calculated anisotropic physical property of the plurality of subunits with the identified anisotropic physical property of the original object, and determining whether the calculated anisotropic physical property of the plurality of subunits differs from the identified anisotropic physical property of the original object by more than a tolerance value;
• based on a determination that the calculated anisotropic physical property of the plurality, of subunits differs from the identified anisotropic physical property of the original object by more than a tolerance value;
• optimizing the plurality of subunits by adjusting one or more of the selected base material and body;
• and
• based on a determination that the calculated anisotropic physical property of the plurality of subunits differs from the identified anisotropic physical property of the original object by less than a tolerance value, instructing an additive manufacturing system to generate a physical replica composite object based on the desired replica composite object,
• wherein each of the plurality of subunits in each of the plurality of units includes an identical set of the selected base material and body, wherein a characteristic of the additive manufacturing system determines the number of the subunits of each of the plurality of units.