Mechanical properties of body-centered tetragonal lattice structures in 316L stainless steel fabricated by SLM

Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to investigate the mechanical performance of body-centered tetragonal (BCT) lattice structures fabricated from 316L stainless steel. A combined approach of numerical simulation and experimental validation was undertaken to explore the influence of structural parameters on mechanical properties. During the simulation stage, lattice models with different structural parameters were constructed using SolidWorks and subjected to uniaxial compression simulations in ABAQUS to obtain mechanical properties, including yield strength (YS) and modulus of elasticity (MOE). The simulation results were incorporated into the response surface model to quantitatively evaluate the influence of structural parameters on mechanical performance. To validate the numerical predictions, BCT lattice specimens with various structural parameters were fabricated using selective laser melting (SLM) and tested under uniaxial compression. The experimental results showed good agreement with the simulation results. The results indicate that both YS and MOE increase with increasing rod diameter and inclination angle, but decrease with increasing rod length. The maximum variations in YS and MOE were 143.69 MPa and 3379.54 MPa, respectively. When the rod length, rod diameter, and inclination angle were 4 mm, 1.5 mm, and 60°, respectively, the maximum YS and MOE values of 144.85 MPa and 3406.26 MPa were obtained. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the optimized design of BCT lattice structures.