Multi-phase lattice materials are a new class of engineering material with wide application to lightweight transport, security, sustainable buildings and electronic packaging. For example, the increasing demand for energy in transport poses a global threat: there is a finite supply of energy (oil, coal, gas, nuclear) and sustainable solutions are insufficient to meet demand. There is a major driver to reduce energy consumption by lightweighting in all transport sectors (aerospace, automotive and marine). Micro-architectured materials comprise periodic or stochastic lattices and foam made from a single material, and can be made lightweight. There has been much recent activity in the development of new lightweight and multifunctional solids, based on foams and lattices, but this has been incremental. Can we do better?
There is an opportunity to engineer a new class of multi-phase, multi-scale lattices that combine multiple interpenetrating topologies, multiple materials and even multiple length scales to provide an enormous range of new combinations of properties. For example, they can deliver high stiffness, strength and damage tolerance, but possess very low weight. The systematic procedure towards developing the new class of multi-phase lattices and lattice coatings involves (i) computational capabilities that permit accurate simulation and prediction of properties based on its constituents, (ii) additive manufacturing processes with precise control of material morphology and topology, and (iii) experimental characterization methods with resolution capable of measuring the microstructural features as they deform under applied loads.
The main objectives of the MULTILAT project are as follows:
(i) To invent multi-phase multi-scale lattices that combine structural hierarchy, with freedom to select the topology, constituent material and length scale of each lattice.
(ii) To determine the effective stiffness, strength and resistance to crack growth (or fracture) as a function of lattice topology, length scale and material combination, for multi-phase lattices.
(iii) To develop a systematic method of filtering the enormous range of candidate constituents in order to develop the optimal multi-phase lattice materials for a given application based on the fundamental micromechanics.
(iv) To scope out the manufacture and use of the newly invented lattices in representative applications: a hard but porous coating, a functionally graded compliant coating and a lightweight structural panel with high energy absorption and high toughness.
(v) To measure and to predict the extreme properties of a coating made from a nano-scale lattice.
The outcomes of the proposed project will open up new horizons for the underpinning science and technology of new applications and devices.
