Mechanical Properties of Gradient Copper Nano-Gyroid Cellular Structures: A Molecular Dynamics Study

TL;DR

This study uses molecular dynamics simulations to explore the mechanical properties of gradient copper nano-Gyroid cellular structures, revealing their unique deformation behavior and enhanced energy absorption capabilities.

Contribution

It introduces the first detailed analysis of gradient nano-Gyroid architectures at the nanoscale, demonstrating their programmable deformation and energy absorption properties.

Findings

Gradient Gyroid structures exhibit layer-by-layer deformation.

They have significantly improved energy absorption compared to homogeneous structures.

Deformation and energy absorption are predictable and designable.

Abstract

Advanced manufacturing (AM) technologies, such as nanoscale additive manufacturing process, enable the fabrication of nanoscale architected materials which has received great attention due to their prominent properties. However, few studies delve into the functional gradient cellular architecture on nanoscale. This work studied the gradient nano-Gyroid architected material made of copper (Cu) by molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. The result reveals that, unlike homogeneous architecture, gradient Gyroid not only shows novel layer-by-layer deformation behavior, but also processes significantly better energy absorption ability. Moreover, this deformation behavior and energy absorption are predictable and designable, which demonstrates its highly programmable potential.