Content of research

In general, porous structures with repeating units, such as diamond lattices, suffer from mechanical issues, such as fracture development, low energy absorption, and mechanical anisotropy due to these repeating units. To address these issues, we develop a novel porous structure with high mechanical performance for additive manufacturing. The structure is designed biomimetically based on the insights of bone biomechanics. It has a framework made up of 3D isotropically interconnected beams. Here, the beam lengths and bifurcation counts are arbitrarily determined using probability distributions without any repeated units. Furthermore, the structure can be manufactured through the powder bed fusion of a laser beam using metal powders and material extrusion using plastic filaments. Additionally, compression tests revealed that the structure exhibited suppressed fracture progress after the initial fracture and increased energy absorption. Moreover, the fracture behavior of the structure was found to be independent of the compression direction because of its structural isotropy.

Potential for social implementation

• • Orthopedic/dental implants and prosthetic materials (stem of prosthesis-implants).
• • Lightweight materials and impact absorbers for transportation machinery (to reduce the weight of aircraft parts, automotive crumple zones, and planetary probe landing gears).
• • Materials that require large surface areas, which can be provided owing to high porous connectivity and design freedom of this novel structure.
• • A wide variety of 3D-printed materials.

Appealing points to industry and local governments

We look forward to receiving proposals/ideas such as those summarized below from a wide spectrum of industries.
• Proposals for providing licenses or conducting joint research on the application of this technology.
• Joint research proposals from companies for additive manufacturing to develop various novel materials using this technology.
• Proposals for providing licenses or joint research on incorporating this technology into computer-aided engineering software, aiming to realize the widespread application of this technology in various fields.