Lattice structures have become increasingly popular in the past years, finding application in many fields such as medical, aerospace and automotive. They allow parts to be greatly lightweighted, while retaining their structural integrity. Besides, lattice structures highly increase the available surface area, and also exhibit excellent specific stiffness and energy absorption capability. Indeed, their mechanical performance is affected not only by the chosen material, but also by cell design, i.e. cell topology and relative density. In this field, additive manufacturing technologies have further improved lattice design space by ensuring greater design freedom, and so expanding lattice range of applications.

Up to now, many materials have been developed to maximise the benefits of additive manufacturing. Scalmalloy® is one of them. This high-performance aluminium alloy, which was created by Airbus for aerospace purposes, has since been used for many other different applications, also in elite areas such as automotive racing, like Formula 1. Its success is the result of having excellent corrosion resistance, high ductility and high strength-to-weight ratio. 

The combination of both advanced design and high-performance material opens up new scenarios in many different fields. Nonetheless, only few studies have explored this application, doing so with partial results. The present work aims to provide a new and complete basis for the production of Scalmalloy® lattice structures produced by Laser Powder Bed Fusion. Complete optimization of the process parameters is proposed, in order to obtain dense and dimensionally accurate struts. In addition, cell topology and relative density influence on mechanical behaviour was also analysed. Mechanical tests were performed at room temperature and at high temperatures, in order to validate applications at high temperatures, such as for new compact heat exchangers.