Print Email Facebook Twitter ITIL Title ITIL: Interlaced Topologically Interlocking Lattice for continuous dual-material extrusion Author Kuipers, T. (TU Delft Materials and Manufacturing; Ultimaker) Su, Renbo (The University of Manchester) Wu, J. (TU Delft Materials and Manufacturing) Wang, Charlie C.L. (The University of Manchester) Date 2022 Abstract Material Extrusion (MEX) systems with dual-material capability can unlock interesting applications where flexible and rigid materials are combined. When chemically incompatible materials are concerned the adhesion between the two might be insufficient. Therefore researchers typically rely on dovetail type interlocking geometries in order to affix two bodies mechanically. However, dovetail type interlocking introduces extrusion discontinuities and relies on the material’s resistance to deformation, which is difficult to model. We propose a simple and effective 3D lattice consisting of interlaced horizontal beams in vertically alternating directions which interlock topologically: the interlaced topologically interlocking lattice (ITIL). It ensures continuous extrusion and ensures an interlock even for highly flexible materials. We develop analytical models for optimizing the ultimate tensile strength of the ITIL lattice in two different orientations relative to the interface: straight and diagonal. The analytical models are applied to polypropylene (PP) and polylactic acid (PLA) and verified by finite elements method (FEM) simulations and physical tensile experiments. In the diagonal orientation ITIL can obtain 82% of the theoretical upper bound of 8.6 MPa. ITIL seems to perform comparably to dovetail interlocking designs, while it lends itself to application to non-vertical interfaces. Optimizing the lattice for non-vertical interfaces, however, remains future work. Subject Continuous extrusionInterlockingLattice structureMaterial extrusionMulti-material To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:246cc975-0d10-41c0-8274-8d6a7ded9edc DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2021.102495 ISSN 2214-8604 Source Additive Manufacturing, 50 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2022 T. Kuipers, Renbo Su, J. Wu, Charlie C.L. Wang Files PDF 1_s2.0_S2214860421006424_main.pdf 3.66 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:246cc975-0d10-41c0-8274-8d6a7ded9edc/datastream/OBJ/view