# US 2023/0053918 A1 · Graded lattice energy-absorbing structure, chiral cell thereof having programmable stiffness, and 3d printing method

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- Number: US 2023/0053918 A1
- Document ID: US20230053918A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 17/796,919
- Filed: 2021-08-25
- Published: 2023-02-23
- Earliest claimed: 2020-08-29
- Assignees: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
- Applicants: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
- Inventors: Dongdong GU; Jie GAO; Chenglong MA; Yingjie SONG; Wei CHEN
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20230053918A1

## CPC

- B32B 3/20: of hollow pieces, e.g. tubes; of pieces with channels or cavities
- B22F 5/10: of articles with cavities or holes, not otherwise provided for in the preceding subgroups
- B22F 10/28: Powder bed fusion, e.g. selective laser melting [SLM] or electron beam melting [EBM]
- B32B 3/14: characterised by a face layer formed of separate pieces of material {which are juxtaposed side-by-side (B32B5/02 takes precedence)}
- B32B 15/01: all layers being exclusively metallic {(making layered metal workpieces by pressure cladding B23K20/22; making coatings with a metallic material characterised by its composition C23C30/00)}
- B33Y 10/00: Processes of additive manufacturing
- B22F 2999/00: Aspects linked to processes or compositions used in powder metallurgy
- B32B 2307/51: Elastic
- B32B 2307/558: Impact strength, toughness
- B32B 2307/56: Damping, energy absorption
- B32B: LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
- B22F: WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER (making alloys by powder metallurgy C22C); APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
- B33Y: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING

## Abstract

A chiral cell includes a cell structure. The cell structure includes an upper ring, a middle ring, a lower ring, upper connecting rods, and lower connecting rods. The upper ring and the lower ring have the same geometrical shape, and the middle ring is located between the upper ring and the lower ring. A plurality of upper connecting rods is provided; the two ends of each upper connecting rod are respectively correspondingly connected to the upper ring and the middle ring and the upper connecting rods are obliquely and uniformly distributed between the upper ring and the middle ring; a plurality of lower connecting rods is provided; the two ends of each lower connecting rod are respectively correspondingly connected to the lower ring and the middle ring and the lower connecting rods are obliquely and uniformly distributed between the lower ring and the middle ring.

## Claims

### Claim at position 1

1-9. (canceled)

### Claim 10

A graded lattice energy-absorbing structure established based on a chiral cell having programmable stiffness, wherein, the chiral cell having programmable stiffness comprises a cell structure, the cell structure comprises an upper ring, a middle ring, connecting rods, and a lower ring, the connecting rods comprising upper connecting rods and lower connecting rods, wherein, the upper ring and the lower ring have the same geometrical shape, and the middle ring is located between the upper ring and the lower ring; and axes of the upper, middle, and lower rings all coincide with a central axis of the cell structure;
a plurality of upper connecting rods is provided; two ends of each upper connecting rod are respectively correspondingly connected to the upper ring and the middle ring and the upper connecting rods are obliquely and uniformly distributed between the upper ring and the middle ring; and moreover, the upper connecting rods are arranged in different planes with respect to the central axis of the cell structure, and an angle 0 is formed between each upper connecting rod and the central axis of the cell structure; and
a plurality of lower connecting rods is provided; two ends of each lower connecting rod are respectively correspondingly connected to the lower ring and the middle ring and the lower connecting rods are obliquely and uniformly distributed between the lower ring and the middle ring; and moreover, the lower connecting rods are arranged in different planes with respect to the central axis of the cell structure, and an angle -0 is formed between each lower connecting rod and the central axis of the cell structure, wherein,
the graded lattice energy-absorbing structure comprises two or more cell layers arranged in tiers; each cell layer comprises several cell structures with the same stiffness; and the stiffness of the cell layers arranged in tiers shows a gradient change from top to bottom;
for the cell structures in the same cell layer, the upper rings and the lower rings of two adjacent cell structures are both connected via beams, while the middle rings of two adjacent cell structures are alternately arranged;
between two adjacent cell layers, the cell layer located on the upper side is an upper-side cell layer, while that located on the lower side is a lower-side cell layer; and
the cell structures of the upper-side cell layer and the cell structures of the lower-side cell layer are coaxially arranged in a one-to-one correspondence manner; and the lower rings of the cell structures in the upper-side cell layer and the upper rings of the corresponding cell structures in the lower-side cell layer are integrally connected or integrally designed.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The graded lattice energy-absorbing structure according to claim 10, wherein the angles θ and −θ of the cell structures on the same axis all have a gradient change from top to bottom, while the diameters of the connecting rods and the inner diameters of the middle rings of the cell structures on the same axis are correspondingly identical, so that the cell layers show a gradient change in stiffness from top to bottom; or
the diameters of the connecting rods of the cell structures on the same axis all show a gradient change from top to bottom, while the angles θ and −θ and the inner diameters of the middle rings of the cell structures on the same axis are correspondingly identical, so that the cell layers show a gradient change in stiffness from top to bottom; or
the inner diameters of the middle rings of the cell structures on the same axis all have a gradient change from top to bottom, while the angles θ and −θ and the diameters of the connecting rods of the cell structures on the same axis are correspondingly identical, so that the cell layers show a gradient change in stiffness from top to bottom.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The graded lattice energy-absorbing structure according to claim 10, wherein the cell lays comprise three cell layers, which are respectively an upper cell layer, a middle cell layer, and a lower cell layer, wherein:
the |angles θ| of the cell structures in the upper cell layer, the |angles θ| of the cell structures in the middle cell layer, and the |angles θ| of the cell structures in the lower cell layer are set in a descending order;
the |angles −θ| of the cell structures in the upper cell layer, the |angles −θ| of the cell structures in the middle cell layer, and the |angles −θ| of the cell structures in the lower cell layer are set in a descending order; and
the diameters of the connecting rods and the inner diameters of the middle rings of any two cell structures are correspondingly identical.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The graded lattice energy-absorbing structure according to claim 10, wherein the cell layers comprises three cell layers, which are respectively an upper cell layer, a middle cell layer, and a lower cell layer, wherein:
the diameters of the connecting rods of the cell structures in the upper cell layer, the diameters of the connecting rods of the cell structures in the middle cell layer, and the diameters of the connecting rods of the cell structures in the lower cell layer are set in a descending order; and
the angles θ and −θ, and the inner diameters of the middle rings of any two cell structures are correspondingly identical.

### Claim 14 (depends on 10)

The graded lattice energy-absorbing structure according to claim 10, wherein the cell layers comprise three cell layers, which are respectively an upper cell layer, a middle cell layer, and a lower cell layer, wherein:
the inner diameters of the middle rings of the cell structures in the upper cell layer, the inner diameters of the middle rings of the cell structures in the middle cell layer, and the inner diameters of the middle rings of the cell structures in the lower cell layer are set in a descending order; and
the angles θ and −θ, and the diameters of the connecting rods of any two cell structures are correspondingly identical.

### Claim 15 (depends on 10)

The graded lattice energy-absorbing structure according to claim 10, wherein the upper connecting rods and the lower connecting rods are consistent in number and size, and a connection site of each upper connecting rod on the middle ring is located between connection sites of two adjacent lower connecting rods on the middle ring.

### Claim 16 (depends on 10)

The graded lattice energy-absorbing structure according to claim 10, wherein the geometrical shapes of the upper and lower rings are circular rings.

### Claim 17 (depends on 10)

A 3D printing method of a graded lattice energy-absorbing structure, characterized in that: the graded lattice energy-absorbing structure described in claim 10 is integrally formed by using spherical nickel-titanium alloy powder with a diameter of no more than 50 μm as raw materials and by means of selective laser melting technology, wherein processing parameters are as follows: a laser power of 250 W, a scanning speed of 1200 mm/s, a scanning pitch of 50 μm, and a spot diameter of 50 μm.