Design, analysis and manufacturing of lattice structures: an overview

A lattice structure is a space-filling unit cell that can be tessellated along any axis with no gaps between cells. These structures are an emerging solution to weight, energy and advanced manufacturing time reduction. To date, there is no compilation of literature or state-of-the-art reviews in the lattice structure field due to their prevalence across a wide range of research areas. A systematic review would therefore aid in identifying the wide scope of lattice structure design and applications. The objective of this extensive review is to provide a summary of lattice structure literature as well as determine the latest research trends, in an attempt to identify future areas of investigation. Through the conducted research, significant limitations were identified in the lattice structure definition; a redefinition is proposed with the inclusion of a reference system as well as widening the scope to include scaled unit cell tessellation as a primary topology. This compilation of limitations and future work might provide a clearer understanding of technological and theoretical limitations regarding lattice structures, as well as highlighting areas of further research required in the design, design analysis, manufacturing, application and characterisation areas of lattice structures.