Static mechanical behaviours of stainless steel micro-lattice structures under different loading conditions

Recently, some published studies have shown that laser melting method can be an impressive way for periodic metallic micro-cellular structures with the satisfying requirements to be built. In this respect, this study deeply focuses on examining the experimental static behaviours of stainless steel micro-lattice structures manufactured with the laser melting method for both different cell topologies and loading scenarios such as compression, shear, tension and combined loadings. The results show that the two major parameters characterising the mechanical behaviours of these structures are the relative density and cell topology, which govern the altitude of stress–strain curve and collapse mechanism. Also, pure shear behaviours are unpredictable and have no repeatability due to the complex and highly imperfect surfaces of micro-struts and cells. On the contrary, the compression tests show a large repeatability and stability.