Compressive Properties of Bio‐Inspired Reticulated Shell Structures Processed by Selective Laser Melting

Owing to reasonable stress, large rigidity and large span, the reticulated shell structure is widely used in the field of aerospace industry. However, its hard‐to‐process nature hinders, the progress of design optimization, and experimental investigation. In this paper, a series of reticulated shell structure, inspired from the diving bell of the water spiders, is designed and fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing technology from AlSi10Mg powder. The effects of strut diameter on dimensional accuracy, densification behavior, and mechanical properties of SLM‐processed reticulated shell structures are investigated. The results show that all the SLM‐processed reticulated shell structures exhibit high relative density (>99%), which decrease with the increase of strut diameter. The load–displacement curves of all reticulated shell structures exhibit a similar trend including three distinct stages. The structure with strut diameter of 1.25 mm (D_1.25) has relatively high specific energy absorption, and energy absorption capability. The fracture mechanism of SLM‐processed reticulated shell structures with different strut diameters is analyzed through a combination of finite element simulations and experimental observations. With an increasing strut diameter, the dominant mechanism changes from stress‐controlled to porosity‐controlled fracture.