Mechanical responses and energy absorption characteristics of a novel functionally graded voxel lattice structure

Functionally graded lattice structures have attracted considerable interest owing to their superior mechanical performance compared to traditional uniform structures. In this paper, a novel voxel lattice unit cell with multiple symmetrical struts was designed, and graded lattice structures with variable densities were proposed. Quasi-static compression tests and numerical simulations were conducted to investigate mechanical responses, deformation modes, and energy absorption abilities. The results demonstrated that graded design enabled tunable deformation and a significant 20.3 % increase in specific energy absorption compared to uniform structures. This study expands the design space of functionally graded lattice structures and highlights their significance in practice.