Thermal Insulation and Compressive Performances of 3D Printing Flexible Load-Bearing and Thermal Insulation Integrated Lattice

Structurally and functionally integrated materials usually face the problem of serious functional degradation after large deformation or fracture, such as load-bearing and thermal insulation integrated lattice. In this work, the lattice with a big width-thickness ratio, which empowered the flexibility of the lattice by reducing the rod deformation during compression, was proposed. The structure of the lattice almost kept integrality after large deformation or fracture, and the decay of thermal insulation performance was less. Compared with the conventional lattice, the big width-thickness ratio lattice obtained favorable thermal insulation performance. On this basis, two kinds of flexible load-bearing and thermal insulation integrated hourglass lattices with big width-thickness ratios (BWR lattice) were prepared by SLM, and the thermal insulation and compressive performances were measured. The thermal insulation efficiency could reach 83% at 700 °C. The lattice would recover after large deformation or fracture, and the thermal insulation efficiency of the fracture lattice was 75%. This work provides a new way of designing load-bearing and thermal insulation integrated lattice and achieves the functionality preservation of load-bearing and thermal insulation integrated lattice after large deformations and fractures.