Manufacture and Mechanical Properties of Batwing-Type Al Cellular Metamaterials by Selective Laser Melting

Designing metallic cellular structure with triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) was a novel pathway for preparing multi-functional and lightweight metamaterials. In this paper, TPMS-structured Batwing Al cellular metamaterials were prepared by selective laser melting, and their mechanical performance, failure/deformation modes and energy absorption capacity were investigated. Experimental results demonstrated that the unit cell structure had a significant influence on the mechanical properties of the metamaterials, and that the sample with large wall thickness exhibited excellent mechanical properties and energy absorption capacity. Moreover, the Gibson-Ashby equation was also developed to estimate the mechanical properties of the Batwing-type Al cellular metamaterials. These results could pave a theoretical base for engineering application of phase pure Al which is usually inapplicable to be a structural material because of its low yield strength.