Mechanical Strengthening of Lightweight Metals by Fractal Pattern Surface Modification via Stereolithography

In this research, the stereolithography method was used to process photosensitive pastes that were prepared by dispersing metal particles within a liquid resin.The metal particles were deposited onto aluminium and titanium substrates by UV curing and thermal post-processing to form hard surface phases.Finite Element Analysis was used to assess mechanical strengthening of substrates by complex surface modifications such as Hilbert curve geometries of various fractal order.Results of computational simulations, experimental processing, and tensile testing of samples demonstrated that this method could be used for mechanical strengthening of lightweight metal materials widely used in transportation, energy, and construction applications with sustainable development in mind.