Isogeometric analysis of functionally graded triply periodic minimal surface shells

Functionally graded triply periodic minimal surface (FG-TPMS) structures are known as bio-inspired structures. They possess some remarkable advantages such as porous structures with high inter-connectivity, mathematically controllable geometry features and smooth surfaces. As another advantage, FG-TPMS structures can be fast and numerously manufactured by 3D printing technology. Nevertheless, modeling these structures is a challenging task. This paper investigates static bending and free vibration behaviors of FG-TPMS shells. The proposed formulation is established upon isogeometric analysis (IGA) and first-order shear deformation shell theory (FSDT). The governing equations are discretized by a Galerkin weak form and numerically solved by using non-uniform rational B-Spline (NURBS) basis functions. Exact geometries of structures are described via NURBS basis functions. A fitting technique is used to compute the mechanical characteristics of FG-TPMS materials. We investigate behaviors of FG-TPMS shells considering three types of cell geometries which are primitive (P), gyroid (G), I-graph and wrapped package-graph (IWP), and six porosity distribution patterns. The present solutions are verified with the reference ones in the literature. Effects of boundary, type of cell geometry, porosity distribution pattern, length-to-radius and thickness ratios on behaviors of FG-TPMS shells are rigorously studied. Especially, many numerical results of FG-TPMS shells are first proposed in this paper.