Compressive properties and energy absorption behavior of in-situ integrated aluminum D-TPMS filled multi-cell tubes

In this study, we combine the Diamond triply periodic minimal surface structures (D-TPMS) with the thin-walled tubes, and introduce crossed thin plates at the same time. The purpose is to demonstrate the performance improvement of integrated structural design and crossed thin plates. For this purpose, the ex-situ/in-situ aluminum D-TPMS filled tubes were designed and manufactured by the selective laser melting (SLM) technique. The in-situ integrated aluminum D-TPMS filled multi-cell tubes showed the most superior specific strength (90.88 MPa·g⁻¹·cm³) and energy absorption density (32.63 KJ·Kg⁻³). The integral design and the introduction of the crossed thin plates are conducive to performance improvement. It is worth noting that the enhancement effect achieved by an integral design is greater than that of the crossed thin plates. These findings demonstrated substantial potential for the optimal design of lattice filled tubes as energy absorbers.