Design and Manufacturing of Variable Stiffness Cellular Architecture
Abstract
Cellular structures are highly evaluated due to their high material efficiency. Both theoretical and experimental studies have done on periodic cellular structures. However, the mechanical performance can be stochastically distributed in the cellular architecture. This thesis presents the design and manufacturing of variable stiffness cellular architecture to achieve optimized topology by changing the unit cell parameters. The author applies image analysis technique to extract and digitize the information from the performance distribution map. Two types of cellular cells are studied for their relationship of stiffness and relative density. The methods of voxelization for both cells are also given in this study. This proposed methodology is then implemented to design a customized mattress and compare with current existing mattress. With the study of the unit cells and voxelization technique, our designed mattress aligns body curve better which provides more recuperation of the body during sleep.