Effect of mechanical imperfections on the onset of yielding in lattice structures

Truss lattice structures are characterized by excellent structural, dissipation, thermal and acoustic properties, making them widely embraced across various engineering fields. This paper investigates the onset of yield strength in truss lattice structures using upper bound limit analysis and linear programming. Several cell geometries, both bending-dominated and stretch-dominated are analyzed, demonstrating differences between the results obtained for a single cell and those obtained for multiple cells. Particular attention is devoted to investigating the effect of mechanical imperfections, either smeared or localized, highlighting their importance and the differences between geometries.