Rational positioning of 3D-printed voxels to realize high-fidelity multifunctional soft-hard interfaces

Living organisms use functional gradients (FGs) to interface hard and soft materials (e.g., bone and tendon), a strategy with engineering potential. Past attempts involving hard (or soft) phase ratio variation have led to mechanical property inaccuracies because of microscale-material macroscale-property nonlinearity. This study examines 3D...

Xpandables: Single-filament Multi-property 3D Printing by Programmable Foaming

We propose a new approach to obtain local property variations in 3D-printed objects using a single-nozzle 3D printer and one filament. We use foaming filaments which expand at different rates due to different temperatures. We present an approach to harness this varying expansion by including parameters of the 3D printing process in the design...

Feasibility of On-demand Additive Manufacturing of Spare Parts

Spare parts availability is crucial for extending the life of consumer products. However, long-term availability could lead to high stocks of spare parts, which might not be used. Instead, on-demand manufacturing of spare parts with additive manufacturing (AM) is a promising alternative. This paper presents a method to evaluate parts on their...

Nonlinear coarse-graining models for 3D printed multi-material biomimetic composites

Bio-inspired composites are a great promise for mimicking the extraordinary and highly efficient properties of natural materials. Recent developments in voxel-by-voxel 3D printing have enabled extreme levels of control over the material deposition, yielding complex micro-architected materials. However, design complexity, very large degrees of...

Bonding between silicones and thermoplastics using 3D printed mechanical interlocking

Silicones have desirable properties such as skin-safety, high temperature-resistance, and flexibility. Many applications require the presence of a hard body connected to the silicone. Traditionally, it has been difficult to create strong bonding between silicones and hard materials. In this study, a technique is presented to control the...

Mechanics of bioinspired functionally graded soft-hard composites made by multi-material 3D printing

Functional gradients are material transitions that are found in nature and are known to result in materials with superior properties and multiple functionalities. The emerging multi-material 3D printing (=additive manufacturing, AM) techniques provide a powerful tool for the design and fabrication of bioinspired functionally graded materials ...

Fracture Behavior of Bio-Inspired Functionally Graded Soft–Hard Composites Made by Multi-Material 3D Printing: The Case of Colinear Cracks

The functional gradient is a concept often occurring in nature. This concept can be implemented in the design and fabrication of advanced materials with specific functionalities and properties. Functionally graded materials (FGMs) can effectively eliminate the interface problems in extremely hard–soft connections, and, thus, have numerous and...

Hatching for 3D prints: Line-based halftoning for dual extrusion fused deposition modeling

This work presents a halftoning technique to manufacture 3D objects with the appearance of continuous grayscale imagery for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printers. While droplet-based dithering is a common halftoning technique, this is not applicable to FDM printing, since FDM builds up objects by extruding material in semi-continuous paths....

3D Hatching: Linear halftoning for dual extrusion fused deposition modeling

This work presents halftoning techniques to manufacture 3D objects with the appearance of full grayscale imagery for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printers. While droplet-based dithering is a common halftoning technique, this is not applicable to FDM printing, since FDM builds up objects by extruding material in semi-continuous paths. A set...

Designing with 3D Printed Textiles: A case study of Material Driven Design

This paper describes the findings and results of a design project with the goal to design a wearable garment using 3D Printed textiles, which not only has functional or environmental superiorities, but also experiential ones. The approach that was adopted for this project is a recently developed method on Material Driven Design (MDD), which...