Active Mixing Nozzle for Multimaterial and Multiscale Three-Dimensional Printing

Multimaterial (MM) 3D printing shows great potential for application in metamaterials, flexible electronics, biomedical devices and robots, since it can seamlessly integrate distinctive materials into one printed structure. Among numerous MM 3D printing technologies, digital light processing (DLP) MM 3D printing is compatible with a wide range of materials from hydrogels to ceramics, and can print MM 3D structures with high resolution, high complexity and fast speed. This paper introduces the fundamental mechanisms of DLP 3D printing, and reviews the recent advances of DLP MM 3D printing technologies with emphasis on material switching methods and material contamination issues. It also summarizes a number of typical examples of DLP MM 3D printing systems developed in the past decade, and introduces their system structures, working principles, material switching methods, residual resin removal methods, printing steps, as well as the representative structures and applications. Finally, we provide perspectives on the directions of the further development of DLP MM 3D printing technology.

We present development of multi-material Fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer. Most of the FDM type of 3d printers are able to print plastics such as ABS, PLA and Nylon in a single run. In order to overcome this problem, we have developed an affordable multi-material 3D printer that can print an object with a different kind of soft and hard material in a single run. The combination of printing soft and hard materials in a single run will open the doors to various applications such as soft robotics, actuators and sensors. One of the main printing materials for this printer is the conductive based soft filament made by our laboratory "Soft & Wet Matter Engineering Laboratory", along with other different soft filament and hard plastic filament to create a fully functional, multi-material printer to print objects in a single printing run with greater diversity and lower cost than any other single material printer. We have developed a single screw-based extruder 3D printer extruder type 3D printer that can print both soft and hard materials. Instead of using a filament to 3D print objects, we have used pellets of different materials, including carbon-based conductive composites. Such type of single screw base extruder 3D printer will be a new addition to the additive manufacturing process.

Additive manufacturing of cementitious composites: Materials, methods, potentials, and challenges

The widespread application of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, commonly known as three-dimensional (3D) printing, in industrial and home-business sectors, and the expected increase in the number of workers and consumers that use these devices, have raised concerns regarding the possible health implications of 3D printing emissions. To inform the risk assessment and management processes, this review evaluates available data concerning exposure assessment in AM workplaces and possible effects of 3D printing emissions on humans identified through in vivo and in vitro models in order to inform risk assessment and management processes. Peer-reviewed literature was identified in Pubmed, Scopus, and ISI Web of Science databases. The literature demonstrated that a significant fraction of the particles released during 3D printing could be in the ultrafine size range. Depending upon the additive material composition, increased levels of metals and volatile organic compounds could be detected during AM operations, compared with background levels. AM phases, specific job tasks performed, and preventive measures adopted may all affect exposure levels. Regarding possible health effects, printer emissions were preliminary reported to affect the respiratory system of involved workers. The limited number of workplace studies, together with the great variety of AM techniques and additive materials employed, limit generalizability of exposure features. Therefore, greater scientific efforts should be focused at understanding sources, magnitudes, and possible health effects of exposures to develop suitable processes for occupational risk assessment and management of AM technologies.

There is growing interest in voxelated matter that is designed and fabricated voxel by voxel1-4. Currently, inkjet-based three-dimensional (3D) printing is the only widely adopted method that is capable of creating 3D voxelated materials with high precision1-4, but the physics of droplet formation requires the use of low-viscosity inks to ensure successful printing5. By contrast, direct ink writing, an extrusion-based 3D printing method, is capable of patterning a much broader range of materials6-13. However, it is difficult to generate multimaterial voxelated matter by extruding monolithic cylindrical filaments in a layer-by-layer manner. Here we report the design and fabrication of voxelated soft matter using multimaterial multinozzle 3D (MM3D) printing, in which the composition, function and structure of the materials are programmed at the voxel scale. Our MM3D printheads exploit the diode-like behaviour that arises when multiple viscoelastic materials converge at a junction to enable seamless, high-frequency switching between up to eight different materials to create voxels with a volume approaching that of the nozzle diameter cubed. As exemplars, we fabricate a Miura origami pattern14 and a millipede-like soft robot that locomotes by co-printing multiple epoxy and silicone elastomer inks of stiffness varying by several orders of magnitude. Our method substantially broadens the palette of voxelated materials that can be designed and manufactured in complex motifs.

In the Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF/FDM) technology, the multi-material manufacturing additive method is achieved by a single nozzle or multiple nozzles working simultaneously with different materials. However, the adhesion between different materials at the boundary interface in FDM multi-material printing is a limiting factor. These studies are concerned with improving and study the adhesion between two polymers.Due to the numerous applications and possibilities of 3D printed objects, combining different materials has become a subject of interest. PLA is an alternative to the use of petrochemical-based polymers. Thermoplastic Polyurethane is a flexible material that can achieve different characteristics when combined with a rigid filament, such as PLA. To improve the adhesion between PLA and TPU in multi-material FFF/FDM, we propose the comparison of different processes: post-processing with acetone immersion, surface activation during printing with Acetone, surface activation during printing with tetrahydrofuran, post-processing annealing, and connection of printed parts with tetrahydrofuran.Modifying the 3D printing process improved the quality of the adhesive bond between the two different polymers. Activation of the surface with THF is the treatment method recommended by the authors due to the low impact on the deformation/degradation of the object.In the study, adhesion was considered in relation to the circular pattern of surface development. Further analysis should include other surface development patterns and changes in printing parameters, e.g. process temperatures and layer application speed.3D printing with multi-materials, such as PLA biopolymer and thermoplastic polyurethane, allows for the creation of flexible connections. The strengthening of the biopolymer broadens the possibilities of using polylactide. Examples of applications include: automotive (elements, where flexible TPU absorbs vibrations and protects PLA from cracking), medicine (prostheses with flexible elements ensuring mobility in the joints).Multi-material printing is a new trend in 3D printing research, and this research is aimed at promoting the use and expanding the possibilities of using PLA biopolymer.

Photolithographic patterning of components and integrated circuits based on active polymers for microfluidics is challenging and not always efficient on a laboratory scale using the traditional mask-based fabrication procedures. Here, we present an alternative manufacturing process based on multi-material 3D printing that can be used to print various active polymers in microfluidic structures that act as microvalves on large-area substrates efficiently in terms of processing time and consumption of active materials with a single machine. Based on the examples of two chemofluidic valve types, hydrogel-based closing valves and PEG-based opening valves, the respective printing procedures, essential influencing variables and special features are discussed, and the components are characterized with regard to their properties and tolerances. The functionality of the concept is demonstrated by a specific chemofluidic chip which automates an analysis procedure typical of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine. Multi-material 3D printing allows active-material devices to be produced on chip substrates with tolerances comparable to photolithography but is faster and very flexible for small quantities of up to about 50 chips.

Among all the additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, the material extrusion-based AM is the most popular, and widely used for prototyping, rapid tooling, and direct part production in the current scenario. In material extrusion AM (MEAM), a solid form of material is converted to a semi-molten form and extruded out of a nozzle to deposit in a layer-by-layer manner. Nowadays MEAM three-dimensional (3D) printers are very popular among different application sectors. This motivates us to develop various commercial as well as open-source entry-level 3D printers such as the development of filament extruder 3D printers, pellet extruder 3D printer, or a combination of both. However, to develop or operate these printers, preliminary knowledge of various extrusion parameters is required to obtain the desired quality in the fabricated parts. Therefore, an initial attempt has been made to provide information related to various extrusion parameters such as definition, working range, and the effect of these parameters on performance measured. The impact of process parameters on the performance of either filament extrusion AM or pellet/granules extrusion AM has only been investigated in the studies available in the literature. However, this study provides a comprehensive review of the effects of process parameters on performance measurements for both types of extrusion-based AM processes. In this research work, along with a detailed review of previous works, a study of various process parameters, modeling, and methodology has been provided. The statistical modeling approach, histogram normal plots have been provided along with mean, standard deviation, and percentage to decide the optimum process parameters based on data available in the existing literature.

The adhesion in 3D-printed composites between dissimilar layers was investigated in response to demand for multimaterial prints. Previously, we reported on the thermal properties for printability of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) blends~\cite{harris001}. Here, we report the qualitative and quantitative adhesion properties between commonly-printed materials, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), and flexible TPU. ASTM D1002/D3164 lap shear adhesion tests were performed to measure the adhesion strength between the acrylonitrile plastics and TPU, finding values of $4.7~\mathrm{MPa}$ between ABS and TPU and $6.4~\mathrm{MPa}$ between ASA and TPU. These values are on the same order of magnitude of reported commercial adhesives, suggesting that multimaterial 3D printing can provide an automated, industrially-relevant alternative to handmade fabrication. SEM images are reported to show the quality of adhesion between materials in the composites. These images expose qualitative differences in the interlayer adhesion between materials in the composites that depend on the \textit{order of printing}. Thermal (DSC and TGA) and rheological characterizations were performed to investigate the processing conditions of the extruded plastics while they are in their melt states. The role of viscosity is shown to have major implications on the adhesion, as materials with lower viscosities displayed improved filling of the interlayer voids and increased strength of adhesion.

Chapter 2 - 3D printing and nanotechnology

Additive manufacturing (AM) also known as 3D printing have been making inroads into medical applications such as surgical models and tools, tooling equipment, medical devices. One key area researchers are looking into is bioimplants. With the improvement and development of AM technologies, many different bioimplants can be made using 3D printing. Different biomaterials and various AM technologies can be used to create customized bioimplants to suit the individual needs. With the aid of 3D printing this could lead to new foam and design of bioimplants in the near further. Therefore, the purpose of this review articles is to (1) Describe the various AM technologies and process used to make bioimplants, (2) Different types of bioimplants printed with AM and (3) Discuss some of the challenges and future developments for 3D printed bioimplants.

The rapid advancements in fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing methods have unlocked new opportunities in multi-material additive manufacturing (AM). This technique offers a viable solution for creating high-performance, multi-functional graded materials, parts, and tooling. Despite the extensive efforts invested in exploring the potential of the FDM-type multi-material additive approach, there is a noticeable lack of discussion specifically centered around the material feeding mechanism of this extrusion-based 3D printing method. This work provides a systematic review on the current studies related to the multi-material FDM 3D printing. It is found that the interlayer adhesion quality of different feedstock materials is a first and foremost feature in determining the strength of the entire print. To this end, we particularly focus on analyzing the feeding system of multiple materials and the strategy for material alternation. From our analytical evaluations, it is noticed that the single-nozzle/multi-feed and multi-nozzle/multi-feed FDM printers present unique pros. and cons., respectively. Inspired by multi-material applications of direct ink writing extrusion-based 3D printing, we also suggest to choose a suitable method based on the material rheology and thermal properties of the constituent materials. This can be a chance to gain further benefits from the multi-material AM.

Chapter 4 - Review on 3D printing of medical parts

Despite great progress in four-dimensional (4D) printing, i.e. three-dimensional (3D) printing of active (stimuli-responsive) materials, the relatively low actuation force of the 4D printed structures often impedes their engineering applications. In this study, we use multimaterial inkjet 3D printing technology to fabricate shape memory structures, including a morphing wing flap and a deployable structure, which consist of active and flexible hinges joining rigid (non-active) parts. The active hinges, printed from a shape memory polymer (SMP), lock the structure into a second temporary shape during a thermomechanical programming process, while the flexible hinges, printed from an elastomer, effectively increase the actuation force and the load-bearing capacity of the printed structure as reflected in the recovery ratio. A broad range of mechanical properties such as modulus and failure strain can be achieved for both active and flexible hinges by varying the composition of the two base materials, i.e. the SMP and the elastomer, to accommodate large deformation induced during programming step, and enhance the recovery in the actuating step. To find the important design parameters, including local deformation, shape fixity and recovery ratio, we conduct high fidelity finite element simulations, which are able to accurately predict the nonlinear deformation of the printed structures. In addition, a coupled thermal-electrical finite element analysis was performed to model the heat transfer within the active hinges during the localized Joule heating process. The model predictions showed good agreement with the measured temperature data and were used to find the major parameters affecting temperature distribution including the applied voltage and the convection rate.

Soft robots are capable of mimicking the complex motion of animals. Soft robotic systems are defined by their compliance, which allows for continuous and often responsive localized deformation. These features make soft robots especially interesting for integration with human tissues, for example, the implementation of biomedical devices, and for robotic performance in harsh or uncertain environments, for example, exploration in confined spaces or locomotion on uneven terrain. Advances in soft materials and additive manufacturing technologies have enabled the design of soft robots with sophisticated capabilities, such as jumping, complex 3D movements, gripping and releasing. In this Review, we examine the essential soft material properties for different elements of soft robots, highlighting the most relevant polymer systems. Advantages and limitations of different additive manufacturing processes, including 3D printing, fused deposition modelling, direct ink writing, selective laser sintering, inkjet printing and stereolithography, are discussed, and the different techniques are investigated for their application in soft robotic fabrication. Finally, we explore integrated robotic systems and give an outlook for the future of the field and remaining challenges.