A Seminar on

4-D PRINTING

SATHWIK.S
4MW19ME017
MECHANICAL (SANDWICH) ENGINEERING
INTRODUCTION
4D printing develops materials that can change properties and characteristics based on changes in
the environment—like temperature.

3D printing technology has been used to make static structures from digital data in 3D coordinates,
4D printing adds the concept of change in the printed configuration over time, dependent on
environmental stimuli.

4D printing is inspired by the botanical systems which respond to the environmental stimulus.

The fourth dimension in 4D printing refers to the ability for material objects to change form and
function after they are produced.

Applications of 4D printing are in areas such as biomedical devices, security, fabrication of

patterned surfaces for optics and structures with multi directional properties.
 • This concept was first given by ‘Skylar Tibbits’, an
MIT Researcher, architect, designer, computer scientist
and TED Senior Fellow.

• He had presented the concept of 4-d Printing & Self

Assembly at the TED Talks in 2013.
BACKGROUND • It is based on the principle of self-assembly like
molecular self-assembly where molecules form
complex structures without any human intervention.

• The purpose of this project is to combine technology

and design to invent self-assembly and programmable
material technologies.
TYPES OF 4-D PRINTING:

1. Design Based Printing: Design based printing comprises the efforts

applied in design, therefore on exposure to external stimuli the shape
shows a controlled dynamic behaviour.

2. Material Based Printing: Material based printing depicts shape

changing or shifting behaviour.
MATERIALS USED IN
4-D PRINTING

1. Shape-Memory Alloys:

2. Shape-Memory Polymers:

3. Hydrogel:

4. Other Miscellaneous Materials:

SHAPE CHANGE MECHANISM:

The idea of utilizing the change in the shape of a material is not novel to 4D
printing. Several shape programming techniques exist which utilize this feature. 2D
polymeric sheets are easily converted to 3D sheets by employing certain strategies.
Polymeric sheets are preferable for such processes because they are lightweight, cost-
effective, and extremely flexible.

1. Active origami & self-folding techniques.

2. Stimuli based actuation.

1. ACTIVE ORIGAMI & SELF-FOLDING TECHNIQUES:
Active origami basically relates to
the use of specific smart material to
create self-actuating structures,
which are capable of folding and
unfolding like the real-world origami
paper techniques.
Hinges based on polymeric sheets
combined with printed active composites
(PAC) were used to create active origami
structures. When exposed to external
stimuli, these conjoined sheets would
fold into the desired shape to form
complex structures like 3D boxes and
pyramids.
This technique can potentially
provide a solution to large volume or
storage space engineering problems
by designing structures that can fold
and occupy smaller spaces.
The polymeric sheets when coated
with black ink, folds to produce
origami structure or popup kirigami
structures when exposed to near-
infrared light.
SELF-FOLDING OF PEG-BASED 3D
HYDROGEL BILAYERS
 2. STIMULI BASED ACTUATION:
The characteristic shape transformation exhibited by the 4Dprinted product is a response generated
because of stimuli. These 4D printed products contain a wide range of smart materials, each of which is
actuated by different kinds of stimuli.

Types:

1) Temperature

2) Moisture

3) Light

4) Magnetic Induction
TEMPERATURE-INDUCED ACTUATION:

MAGNETICALLY INDUCED ACTUATION:

 SWOT ANALYSIS OF 4-D PRINTING:
STRENGTHS (internal factors, positive) WEAKNESS (internal factors, negative)

 Efficiency of material and manufacturing process  New technology in the field of 3D printing
 Positive market growth forecast  Expensive smart material and limited
 Multi-color print  Expensive hardware (printer) that may restrict public
 Multi material print from using it
 Time efficient  Accuracy in shape change, complex shapes
 Smart material (programmable material)  Requires specialized personnel and controlled
 Based upon multi-material 3D printing environment

OPPORTUNITIES (external factors, positive) THREATS (external factors, negative)

 Helps logistic problems, transportation.  Machine compatibility.

 Helpful in extreme places i.e. war zone, space.
 Useful for implants in medical field.
 Concept of smart city, buildings & structures.
 5D printing.
 Public safety and health problems.
 Impact on environment.
 Intellectual property rights, copyright, patent, trademark.
 System vulnerable to software hack, piracy.
 Ethical issues.
 APPLICATIONS:

ENGINEERING BIOMEDICAL
APPLICATIONS: APPLICATION:
ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS:

1) AEROSPACE & AERONAUTICAL INDUSTRY:

• Spacecraft with SMP Deployment mechanism.
• SMP based deployment has advantage over traditional
deployment.
• Low-cost Alternative.
• Benefit of Smaller storage volume.
• Less reliance on Mechanical Components.
AEROSPACE APPLICATION OF
• SMAs can also be utilized to achieve precise actuation in
SMPS AS A SOLID SURFACE
space antennas. REFLECTOR.
• Spoilers and rear upper panels designed from SMAs can
significantly improve the aerodynamical performance of
vehicles.
ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS:

2) SOFT ROBOTICS AND SHAPE MEMORY ACTUATORS

• Development of SMP based triboelectric
nanogenerator (STENG).
• Highly stretchable and can easily adapt to different
surface topographies. Also can potentially be
employed as a wrist splint. STENG SHAPE-CHANGING WRIST SPLINT
• ideal for soft robotic applications.
• also used in designing soft robotic grippers
• Soft robotic components can perform a larger range
of operations due to their high flexibility.
BIOMEDICAL APPLICATION:

1) Angiography:
• Procedure of introducing suitable materials
into the arteries to locate blocked areas.
• Guidewires composed of stainless-steel were
initially used for this process.
MODEL OF A NITINOL-BASED STENT
• Nitinol guidewires are now being extensively EMPLOYED FOR ANGIOGRAPHY.

used for this purpose.

• They have high flexibility and good kink
resistance.
BIOMEDICAL APPLICATION:

2) Stents:
• Designed as a non-invasive way of dealing with
physical anomalies.
• Highly expandable and provide means of forming a
variety of SMP foams.
• Super elasticity of nitinol makes it ideal for this
operation.
• Nitinol exhibits high compatibility with the body (A) PERFORATED SMP STENT (B) SMP
and unlike stainless-steel, it does not put a large STENT-CATHETER SYSTEM.

amount of force on the blood vessels.

BIOMEDICAL APPLICATION:

3) Drug release system SMPs:

• SMPs is used for storage and subsequent controlled
release of drugs in biomedical applications.
• Oligo [(caprolactone)-co-glycolide]-
dimethacrylatesbased biodegradable drug delivery
system has been successfully synthesized.
• The shape memory process and the recovery
mechanism of the drug delivery system were
THE SMART DRUG RELEASE SYSTEM
designed not to hamper the drug release capability
of the material.
BIOMEDICAL APPLICATION:

4) Artificial cornea implants:

• Scaffolds developed from interpenetrating polymer
networks (IPN) were used to make artificial cornea
devices.
• The use of IPNs allows the preparation of 3D scaffolds
possessing high strength and high-water retention
IPN BASED ARTIFICIAL CORNEA CROSS-
capacity.
SECTION.
• These properties combined with their well-defined
highly porous structure leads to the development of
extremely biocompatible devices.
BIOMEDICAL APPLICATION:

4) Regenerative medicines and tissue engineering:

• Chitosan-based hydrogels have been used to
manufacture wound dressing systems.
• These systems employ rutin which significantly
enhances the cellular healing process.
• Polypeptide hydrogels have been employed for the
fabrication of wound healing systems.
• These compounds possess antibacterial properties
FABRICATION OF NANOFIBROUS SCAFFOLDS
and exhibit a greater magnitude of cell proliferation FOR TISSUE ENGINEERING.
which boosts the healing process.
THE CHALLENGES AND OUTLOOK FOR 4D PRINTING:
 The inadequate availability and suitability of manufacturing technology is a
major challenge in the 4D printing field. For 4D printing, only two 3D
printing technologies named as PolyJet technology for produce multi-
material parts and selective laser melting (SLM) technology for producing
metallic components are being used.

 Oxidation and changes in the phase transformation behaviour, microstructural

defects, rapid solidification, and directional cooling can be counted as some
of the problems due to the smart materials properties.

 Other challenges include slow and inaccurate actuation, lack of control of

intermediary states of deformation, and limited material availability.

 Understanding the effects of the scale of structural patterns and the

mechanics of the transformations will allow for more flexibility and
applicability, which shows the promise of widespread use and future
opportunities in the field of 4D-printing.
 AVENUES FOR
FUTURE
RESEARCH:

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW AND THE FUTURE

ADVANCEMENTS FOR 4D PRINTING.
 4-D PRINTING SCENARIO IN INDIA:
 Two Indian researchers from the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla, Odisha, have developed two 4D
printed prototypes, which the researchers claim, are the world’s first & strongest prototypes built to date.

 The prototypes are made from PLA material which is embedded with shape memory alloys (SMA) Ni-Ti and
fabricated using FDM 3D printing technology. The Ni-Ti sheet adds strength to these 4D printed parts.

 A strength report of these parts shows that these 4D printed parts have a compressive strength of 150MPa which is
closely equivalent to high strength concrete.

 The researchers have created prototypes of biocompatible and biodegradable materials and they actuate when put in
hot water.

 The first prototype is a simple “self-folding origami structure” with some design considerations, which successfully
actuated to form the final part. The second one is a practically usable prototype “3 Jaw robotic gripper” which has
been used to pick an object in hot water without using any bulky motors.
PROTOTYPE BEING 4D PRINTED
IN AN FDM 3D PRINTER
4D PRINTED PARTS SHOW SHAPE CHANGING
CAPABILITIES WHEN IMMERSED IN HOT
WATER.
 CONCLUSION:
• The future with 4D printed materials is bright and highly optimistic.

• 4D printing has the potential to eradicate the inherent weakness of mechanical systems.

• 4D printed smart materials can possibly be used to design novel systems that are not limited to any degree of freedom.

• Such novel systems are achieved by replacing traditional mechanical components like motor and gears with suitable
smart materials.

• New and more efficient methods of incorporating electronics into smart structures can lead to the improvements of
novel smart devices.

• The growth of biocompatible smart material systems can revolutionize the medical sector and can boost the
efficiency of the healing process.

• It is very difficult to imagine a future where 4D printing has an inadequate and significant impact on the industrial
sector.
REFERENCES:
1. Siddharth Joshi, Krishna Rawat, Karunakaran C, Vasudevan Rajamohan, Arun Tom Mathew, Krzysztof
Koziol, Vijay Kumar Thakur, Balan A.S.S (2019).-“4D printing of materials for the future: Opportunities
and challenges”.

2. Fraz A. KHAN, H. Kursat CELIK2, Okan ORAL, Allan E.W. RENNIE (2018).-“A Short Review On 4d
Printing”.

3. Ramesh.S, Sai Kiran Reddy, Usha C, Niranjan Kumar Naulakha, Adithya Kumar C.R, M. Lohith Kumar
Reddy (2018).-“Advancements in The Research Of 4d Printing-A Review”.

4. Nkosilathi Zinti Nkomo. (2018)-“A Review of 4D Printing Technology and Future Trends”.

5. Zhizhou Zhang, Kahraman G. Demir and Grace X. Gu. (2019).-“Developments in 4D-printing: a review
on current smart materials, technologies, and applications”.

6. Ajay K.S. Singholi, Ajay Sharma. (2019)-“Finding Capabilities of 4D Printing”.

7. Ana P. Piedade (2019).-“4D Printing: The Shape-Morphing in Additive Manufacturing”.

8. Dilip Gurung. (2017)-“Technological comparison of 3D and 4D printing”.