Components including structures having decoupled structural stiffness and mass density

A method of fabricating a component with an additive manufacturing system including a consolidating device, said method comprising:

• providing a build file of the component on a controller of the additive manufacturing system;
• depositing a material onto a surface;
• and
• operating the consolidating device to consolidate the material to form a structure comprising a plurality of unit cells joined together in a three-dimensional lattice shape such that the lattice varies in the x-, y-, and z-dimensions, wherein the plurality of unit cells comprise:
• a first portion of unit cells having a first portion characteristic dimension, the first portion characteristic dimension of the first portion of unit cells having a first value;
• and
• a second portion of unit cells having a second portion characteristic dimension, the second portion characteristic dimension of the second portion of unit cells having a second value different from the first value.

A component comprising:

• a structure comprising a plurality of spherical unit cells joined together, each unit cell of said plurality of spherical unit cells having a mass density substantially similar to the mass density of every other spherical unit cell of said plurality of spherical unit cells, said plurality of spherical unit cells comprising:
• a first portion of spherical unit cells having a first portion characteristic dimension and a first portion average stiffness, the first portion characteristic dimension of said first portion of spherical unit cells having a first value;
• and
• a second portion of spherical unit cells having a second portion characteristic dimension and a second portion average stiffness, the second portion characteristic dimension of said second portion of spherical unit cells having a second value different from the first value, wherein the second portion average stiffness differs from the first portion average stiffness.