Page 96 - ESAM-1-1

Engineering Science in

Additive Manufacturing

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Superior mechanical properties of interpenetrating

phase composites integrating 3D-printed metal
microlattice and infiltrating epoxy

Zhonggang Wang 1,2,3 , Junjie Deng 1,2,3 , Xinxin Wang 1,2,3 * , and Kai Wei 4

1 School of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan,
China
2 Key Laboratory of Traffic Safety on Track, Ministry of Education, Changsha, Hunan, China
3 The State Key Laboratory of Heavy-Duty and Express High-Power Electric Locomotive, Changsha,
Hunan, China
4 State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan University,
Changsha, Hunan, China

Abstract
The synergistic optimization of strength and toughness remains a critical challenge
for mechanical metamaterials. To address this, this study aimed to investigate the
interpenetrating phase composite (IPC) integrating metal-enhanced phase and
epoxy-infiltrated phase with the hope to achieve superior strength-toughness
*Corresponding author: properties. Truss microlattices and IPC specimens with conventional, reinforced,
Xinxin Wang and hierarchical architectures were fabricated using selective laser melting and
(csuwxx@csu.edu.cn) epoxy infiltration techniques. Experimental results show that the IPC metamaterials
Citation: Wang Z, Deng J, Wang exhibited progressive large-deformation collapse sequences, mitigating the
X, Wei K. Superior mechanical catastrophic collapse observed in pure truss microlattices. The IPCs demonstrated a
properties of interpenetrating phase
composites integrating 3D-printed synergistic enhancement (1 + 1 >2), with compressive strength exceeding the linear
metal microlattice and infiltrating summation of constituent phases by up to 47.93% and specific energy absorption
epoxy. Eng Sci Add Manuf. improved by 153.54% compared to pure truss microlattices. These improvements
2025;1(1):8554.
doi: 10.36922/esam.8554 stem from interfacial interactions between the metal and epoxy phases, which
enhance compressive strength during initial deformation, and achieve mutual
Received: January 15, 2025 crushing-supporting mechanism that promotes stable deformation in later stages.
1st revised: February 28, 2025 This study highlights significant performance enhancements in IPCs and offers
2nd revised: March 7, 2025 insights into designing high strength-toughness metamaterials.
Accepted: March 10, 2025
Keywords: Lattice metamaterials; Interpenetrating phase composite; Compressive
Published Online: March 20, 2025
strength; Energy absorption; Additive manufacturing
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution, 1. Introduction
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is Lattice metamaterials, consisting of interconnected struts or plates, are a class of
properly cited. architected materials that exhibit outstanding mechanical properties, such as high
1-5
6
7,8
9,10
Publisher’s Note: AccScience specific strength, stiffness, and energy absorption, while maintaining a lightweight
Publishing remains neutral with design. These metamaterials are widely acknowledged for their ability to efficiently
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional distribute loads through their architectures, making them highly suitable for aerospace,
affiliations. automotive, and biomedical engineering applications. 11,12 The mechanical performance
Volume 1 Issue 1 (2025) 1 doi: 10.36922/esam.8554