Quantitative Lattice Design Process Utilizing Vector Fields

Selecting lattice networks to achieve specific tailored material properties has traditionally been a daunting task. Unit cell selection is a “heuristic-based” methodology, which is time- consuming and rarely leads to an optimal solution. A new approach to metamaterial design methodology encompassing quantitative unit cell selection and optimization that is based on baseline geometry is presented. To achieve this new design roadmap, a real-world case is used for utilizing metamaterials to design an optical bench from Aluminum 6061 T6 equivalent (Al6061 RAM2), achieving 2-micron surface deformation and a 10% mass penalty relative to Beryllium I-220H of diametrical surface-level deformation. The primary goal is to design specific beryllium-like mechanical properties without the added manufacturing challenges, lead time, and cost of Beryllium I-220H. Quantitative lattice selection methodology is considered in which a lattice network design is developed to reduce the structure weight while still maintaining overall resistance to deformation when a thermal load is applied to the optical bench. The result is a quantitative design process that can produce metamaterial geometry tailored to specific material properties in less than 100 days including manufacturing.