Haydn Wadley
University of Virginia
ESI 2017 Quad Chart Haydn Wadley
The study is focused upon applications where large bending loads must be supported at the lowest possible mass. It proposes an investigation of the design, fabrication and performance of two ultralight cellular lattice topologies with combined high stiffness/strength and toughness. One topology is an octet truss lattice, the second is a cubic+octet foam. While the simpler to fabricate octet truss can meet NASA specific stiffness, specific strength and fracture toughness goals, recent theoretical studies have demonstrated that a cubic+octet foam topology can reach the upper bound elastic stiffness bound (an approximately 2 times lighter solution). This study will develop advanced manufacturing techniques which enable the scaled-up fabrication of lattices with the proposed topologies. By using high ductility, corrosion resistant materials, the program will also reduce their susceptibility to failure by time dependent degradation modes. They will reduce the mass of existing (1-m scale) 3D secondary space structures by more than 20%. The cubic+octet foam topology also offers space debris shielding, impact energy absorption and thermal (conduction, convection and radiation) protection functionalities.