Mechanical rating of customer designed products for mass customization

Additive manufacturing allows for light weight designs with controllable microstructures. In nature one often finds microstructures that are adapted to the expected loads by locally changing the parameters of the microstructure. This leads to an optimal tread-off between strength and weight. Furthermore, the resulting geometries are often appealing from an aesthetic point as well. A systematic approach for assessing the mechanical performance of an additively manufactured, complex structure already in the design phase is highly desirable. On the one hand, building large complex structures by additive manufacturing is currently costly, as a result, it is desirable that a prototype exhibits already the desired mechanical properties. On the other hand, additive manufacturing facilitates the production of components in small quantities even the production of individual designed components remains economically feasible. We present a method that combines all the advantages of additive manufacturing as well as resolving the arising challenges.