Dynamic loading-mapping of digital CFRP cellular lattices via additive manufacturing

The advancement of additive manufacturing (AM) for continuous fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites has substantially expanded the design freedom of lightweight cellular lattices. However, design for digital cellular lattices remains challenging owing to the persistent separation between structural optimization and continuous-fiber manufacturability. In this work, an integrated design framework is proposed for digital CFRP cellular lattices, in which manufacturability is explicitly incorporated and both dynamic and static loading conditions can be addressed. Independent B-spline fields are constructed for pseudo-density and principal material direction, enabling smooth spatial variation of design variables. A design method for digital cellular lattices guided by dynamic-load mapping is established from the optimized design variables, which inherently facilitates structure manufacturability while enabling efficient load transfer through exploitation of the anisotropic characteristics of the cellular lattices. Furthermore, the design scheme is extended from a single-cell formulation to a unit-cell-independent framework, which broadens the design space of digital cellular lattices and enables customized designs for diverse impact-response requirements. Numerical and experimental results validate the dynamic and static loading optimization results of the proposed method, indicating that the resulting digital cellular lattices exhibit enhanced impact resistance together with compatibility with continuous-fiber manufacturability.