Predicting fatigue life of additively manufactured lattice structures using the image-based Finite Cell Method and average strain energy density

A well-known Achilles' heel of laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) additive manufactured lattice structures is the difficulty in predicting fatigue properties. The presence of manufacturing-induced defects significantly affects the fatigue resistance of the porous component and must be accurately captured by predictive models. To tackle this challenge, the as-built geometry of the lattice needs to be modeled, which introduces another challenge on the computational front. For the first time, a model based on the computer tomography (μ-CT) reconstruction of the as-built lattice geometry is simulated with the efficient finite cell method and combined with the average strain energy density (ASED) to obtain accurate fatigue predictions. This work presents a workflow for determining the fatigue resistance of lattice metamaterial, followed by a case study for method validation. The validation shows a good agreement between the predicted fatigue life and the experimental results.