Just How Strong is 3D Printed Aluminum? One Man Finds Out!

[donwinterhalter]

When I look at that lattice, I see an amazing heat sink. I'm not sure that it's the ideal aluminum alloy but the convection possibilities seem incredible.

[dbonner]

Hi, I don't see why this structure is so efficient at carrying the given axial load.

The material has an ultimate tensile strength of 130 MPa = 130 N per mm2. (low estimate, could be more like 180)
The section to support 4000 newtons is 4000/130 = 30 mm2.
Note, the height is 24 mm. 30 mm2 distributed on 24 mm height is a good slenderness ratio, I don't think it will be subject to buckling. So, we can assume full strength in compression.

And the weight of that little cylinder will be 24 mm x 30 mm2 x 0.00266 g/mm3 (density of aluminum alloy) = 1.9 grams
So the cylinder carries 2x more weight in proportion to its own weight. The supposedly super efficient structure is 50% as efficient as a simple tube...

Why has nobody thought of taking a short piece of aluminum tube, cutting it to the right length, and testing it?

Let's get this clear: I am a big fan of latttices, they have many tremendous applications.
But I think that the person posting here has not made any effort to figure out whether this lattice in particular is being efficient at carrying this axial load.