A Conformal Design Approach of TPMS-Based Porous Microchannels With Freeform Boundaries

Abstract

Triply period minimal surface (TPMS)-based porous microchannels with freeform surfaces are extensively used in various applications, e.g., bone scaffold design and thermal management. However, TPMS-based porous microchannels designed by most existing solutions are difficult to conform with the boundaries of freeform surfaces, and the integrity of the TPMS unit at the surface boundary is easily destroyed. Therefore, this work proposes a conformal design method for TPMS-based microchannels based on mesh surface conformal parameterization. A novel geometric structure, namely “quasi-quadrilateral,” is presented with this approach to control the size and shape of TPMS unit. Then, a design method of TPMS network topology in the 2D parametric domain of mesh surfaces is proposed to determine the positions of TPMS units. Based on this network topology, an algorithm to generate conformal TPMS units and TPMS-based microchannels is further presented. The result microchannels can automatically adapt to various freeform surfaces, and the quality of TPMS unit is greatly improved. Moreover, the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed approach are validated by comparative experimental studies with existing solutions.