It is necessary to reduce the weight of components while maintaining or improving their mechanical properties to withstand dynamic loads in lightweight structures. In this study, heat treatment and a trigger mechanism were implemented for a thin-walled tube of aluminium to increase energy absorption while reducing the peak crushing force. Different geometries and locations were proposed to trigger deformation in a controlled manner, in combination with heat treatments. Experimental designs for each energy absorption mechanism were performed, and designs were tested by quasi-static crushing. Data obtained from experiments were used to calculate energy absorption indicators that were used to compared designs with components without mechanism to analyse performance. By comparing proposed designs with tubes without modification, the best combination of design variables for each trigger mechanism were identified. It was determined that 160 mm from the upper side, 250 mm${}^2$ area and a rectangular trigger shape reduced peak crushing force by 22.03% and increased energy absorption by 37.76%. For heat treatment, the optimal combination was heating in a furnace at 175 ${}^{\circ }$C for 1 h and cooling in water at 70 ${}^{\circ }$C during 10 min while only soaking half of its length. This combination reduced peak crushing force by 19.02% and increased energy absorption 15.08%. When these mechanisms were combined on a single tube, peak crushing force was reduced by 21.63%, and energy absorption increased by 42.53%.

The use of curved layers in fused filament fabrication could lead to various advantages in surface finishing and mechanical properties. Here, the influence of three different structural and manufacturing parameters (volume fraction, raster arrangement, and the use of curved or planar layers) on the mechanical properties of lattice structures under three-point bending is studied. Two different raster arrangements were considered, i.e., those with rasters at planes parallel to the principal axes of the samples and those diagonally arranged, all at four different volume fractions. All different samples were additively manufactured using planar and curved layers. Samples were further dimensionally inspected to refine the computational models before their analysis via finite element simulations. The linear elastic region of the load-displacement curves was further analyzed numerically via finite element models. Predictions with finite element models resulted in good agreement with errors below 10%. Samples with diagonal rasters were 70% softer than those parallel to the principal axes.

Estimation of the loading conditions during incremental sheet forming is important for designing dedicated equipment, safely utilizing adapted machinery, and developing online process control strategies or trajectory compensation for robot compliance. In this study, we investigate the forming force of pyramidal components of uniform wall angles through analytical, experimental, and numerical approaches. After reviewing the existing research, the accuracy of the estimations from two analytical models and finite element simulations was assessed. Experimental results revealed that the maximum force occurs at 45° and 60° for AA1050-H24 and AISI-SAE 304 materials, respectively. FEA simulations leveraging tensile test data and refined isotropic hardening laws provided conservative estimations for the two materials. In the case of the AA1050-H24, numerical models accurately reproduce the experimental trend of components formed with Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) at different wall angles. On the other hand, alternative hardening models may be required to improve the force predictions for the AISI-SAE 304 material.