1. Micro Lattices, 3D Printing
The unit cell forms the basic lattice
The unit cell is made up of a number of structural components, either simple cylinder or shells
The structural components can be made of a special material such as the electroless NiP or in my case a UV sensitive Resin which can be 3D printed or a composite material
Challenge 1 : Select best material for task
Challenge 2: Assemble unit cells into best macro structure to resist loads.

2. Micro Lattices, SLA Printer Formlabs, Form +1

3. Micro Lattices, More Form +1 UV activated Resin

4. Micro Lattices, SLA Applications

5. Micro Lattices, UV Resin Transparent Aluminum

6. Micro Lattices 3D Printing Tools
Start with CAD model
Generate STL File
3D Software provided by Maker converts to slices and then fed to 3D printer.
Model is printed in about 120 mins.
Cured in UV light for final material property.
Limitations, 300 micron features min.
Layers 25 to 200 micron thick
Volume 125 X 125 X 165 mm

7. Micro Lattices, unit cells Top90, Dia90, Cru90

8. Micro Lattices, Limitations in assembling unit cells
Current tools require a lot of hand work

9. Micro Lattices, solution FreeCAD, programmable CAD
Open Source program, can be used like other parametric CAD programs
Alternative is to use Python scripting
More flexibility by defining new cell based on the hexa8 finite element and three cylinders joining the diagonal nodes

10. Micro Lattices, details of HexaToLattice.py program
Read in FE data, nodes and hexa8 elements.
Define all cylinders connecting each cell's nodes.
Add spheres
Connect all components by Boolean unions after each component is created
Export CAD in step format.
Use TransMagic to convert CAD to stl program with the correct balance of accuracy and size

11. Micro Lattices, FE data Beam 4X2X2 to CAD, stp

12. Micro Lattices, CAD stp input TransMagic generated stl