Compressive Response of Strut-Reinforced Kagome with Polyurethane Reinforcement

Lattice structures find immense application in lightweight structures for their high specific strength, modulus, and energy absorption. Strut-reinforced Kagome (SRK) structures provide better compressive performance compared to many existing lattice structures. In this study, the performance of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) SRK lattice structures, fabricated by fused deposition modeling, under compression loading is investigated. Further, SRK structures were filled with different polyurethane in the empty space and their effect on the compressive performance was examined. The SRK structure demonstrated abrupt failure at the joints in the vicinity of face sheet, thereby reducing the energy absorption of the structure. The SRK with flexible foam (low-density polyurethane foam) had no significant effect on peak failure load and moduli, whereas energy absorption per unit mass was higher by 16.5%. The SRK with the rigid foam (high-density foam) displayed not only the better energy absorption per unit mass (116%) but also different failure behavior than SRK only.