Influence of geometric partitioning on the finite element analysis of a face-centered cubic (FCC) lattice cell under mechanical loading

Finite element analysis of lattice structures proves very useful for predicting their behavior under mechanical stress. In this article, we propose a geometric partitioning of a facecentered cubic (FCC) lattice cell. From the resulting new geometry, which enables the hexahedral meshing of the entire cell, we perform a finite element analysis of its compression under quasi-static and dynamic regimes using the ABAQUS software. The results obtained are compared with those of the analysis of the same cell with a standard (unpartitioned) geometry and a default tetrahedral mesh. The results obtained with the two mesh types are quite similar, with only slight differences. However, it is worth noting that the hexahedral mesh (known for its higher numerical accuracy) of the cell generates nearly 8 times fewer elements and nodes than the tetrahedral mesh of the same size. Furthermore, the simulation calculation time with the hexahedral mesh is almost 7 times shorter in quasi-static regime and almost 10 times shorter in dynamic regime than with the tetrahedral mesh. The overall results obtained in this study demonstrate that the proposed geometric partitioning for the FCC lattice cell allows for a more precise and, above all, much faster finite element analysis. This geometric partitioning technique could therefore be a highly effective tool for improving finite element analysis of FCC lattice structures containing multiple cells.