Thermo-Mechanical Optimization of Metal Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces Structures Made by 3D Printing

The increasing demand for efficient thermal management in high-power electronics has driven the development of architected metal components through Additive Manufacturing (AM). In this study, metal Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) was employed to produce cellular structures based on Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (TPMSs), specifically of the gyroid and sheet types, using 316L stainless steel. A Design of Experiments (DoE) approach was applied to investigate the influence of key design parameters (TPMS type, porosity level, and unit cell size) on the flexural mechanical response. The mechanical characterization was coupled with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations in Ansys Fluent to evaluate pressure drop and thermal dissipation. This integration enabled the identification of trade-offs and optimal configurations that balance structural integrity with thermal efficiency. Statistical analysis confirmed that the TPMS type was the dominant factor in determining flexural strength, with sheet architectures showing up to a threefold improvement compared to solid ones. Porosity and cell dimension also had significant effects, with interactions indicating that the design parameters cannot be optimized independently. In particular, sheet structures with larger cell dimensions provided the best balance of strength and deformation resistance, while solid ones were more sensitive to porosity reduction. This combined experimental–numerical framework demonstrates a holistic design strategy linking process, structure, properties, and performance.

Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge the European Union (NextGeneration EU) and MUR-PNRR project Sicilian MicronanoTech Research And Innovation Center—SAMOTHRACE (CUP E63C22000900006), Spoke 1.