An experimental study on the influence of the wall thickness of gyroid TPMS structures on dynamic response

Abstract

Abstract Triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) represent a kind of porous structure with outstanding properties in various mechanical applications. Among these, gyroid-based lattice structures have received interest because of their favorable mechanical properties and lightweight design. This study presents a comprehensive vibration analysis of a cantilever beam incorporating a gyroid lattice infill, fabricated from polylactic acid (PLA) using the fused deposition modeling (FDM) technique. The gyroid unit cell wall thickness was systematically varied from 0.3 to 0.7 mm with 0.1 mm increments, enabling an investigation into its influence on the resulting volume fraction. Finite element analysis was used to establish the mode shapes of the proposed beam, and experimental measurements were taken to assess its natural frequency. Computational results demonstrated good agreement with experimental data, confirming the precision of the numerical model. The damping ratio was determined using experimentally determined displacement transmissibility. To assess the advantages of lightweight design, the gyroid-infused beam was compared with a solid PLA beam of the same dimensions. The results indicate that an increase in wall thickness leads to higher resonance frequencies, whereas improved damping ratios are observed at wall thicknesses of 0.3 mm and 0.6 mm. This investigation can provide a framework to improve gyroid-based structures in the future, so that they can achieve better dynamic performance with less weight.