4D Printing: Development of fused filament fabrication structures with the ability to shape-shift

4D Printing

Development of fused filament fabrication structures with the ability to shape-shift

Dina Gamelas, Mylene S. Cadete. Tiago Gomes, Victor Neto

Centre for Mechanical Technology and Automation (TEMA), Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, Portugal dina.gamelas@ua.pt, mylene@ua.pt, tiago.emanuel.gomes@ua.pt, vneto@ua.pt

Abstract — Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) of 4D objects appears as a variant of additive manufacturing. The name 4D refers to the temporal component since the printed object undergoes a shape change when subjected to a stimulus, in this case an increase in temperature.

This technology, still in development [1,2], has several advantages such as the reduction of the time of manufacture and the waste of raw material since many of the 4D objects obtained are based on flat patterns of solids that are later transformed into three-dimensional objects. Compared to the 3D printing of the intended final object it becomes obvious that the planification presents a simpler printing path and does not require the printing of supports. Another advantage presents itself in the transportation aspect since the simple printed geometry can be activated in the place of use.

Some of the aspects explored in this study are the shape memory effect, the formation of internal stress as well as the printing parameters that most affect its storage and lastly the printing strategies that best allow the control of the desired deformation effect.

Based on this, the design of a 4D object to be obtained by FFF is further explored. Figure 1 shows the conceptual model of a chair before and after being activated. This result is purely conceptual since the change of scale of the object is not considered neither is it planned to endure the work stress of a real size chair.

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

This work is supported by the projects: UID/EMS/00481/2019-FCT - FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; and CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER022083 - Centro Portugal Regional Operational Program (Centro2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund. Mylene S. Cadete and Tiago Gomes acknowledge FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia for the fellowship grants with references SFRH/BD/04681/2020 and SFRH/BD/143429/2019, respectively.

TOPIC 1) Sustainable Manufacturing Solutions a. Manufacturing Processes & Simulation

REFERENCES

[1] F. Momeni, S. M. Mehdi Hassani.N, X. Liu, J. Ni, “A review of 4D printing”, Mater. Des., vol. 122, pp. 42 – 79, 2017

[2] X. Kuang et al., “Advances in 4D Printing: Materials and Applications” , Adv. Funct. Mater., vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 1 – 23, 2019

Figure 1 Conceptual model before and after activation

Keywords — 4D printing; 3D printing; FFF; shape memory effect.