INTRODUCTION
Although the 3D printing has been existing for nearly 30 years now, when the Additive Manufacturing industry is still discovering new materials and ways to apply them, a new technology has started to appear, and its name is 4D printing
WHAT IS 4D PRINTING
In a nutshell, 4D printing is a process of printing a 3D object, that is able to change its shape, color, or other properties over time, after being influenced by an external energy input, such as temperature or light, and even more. The main research lab, that pioneers many 3D, and now 4D technologies is the MIT’s Self-assembly lab. Their goal is to combine technology and design to invent self-assembly and programmable material technologies aiming at reimagining construction, manufacturing, product assembly and performance.
THE MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 4D AND 3D PRINTING
The main reason why 4D can be better than 3D is its lack of rigidity. A once printed 3D object cannot change its form, while 4D is its exact opposite. 4D printing uses the so-called “smart materials” such as hydrogel or a shape memory polymer that use their thermomechanical properties and other material properties to remember and change shape.
Diagram adapted from [F. Momeni et al. / Materials and Design 122 (2017) 42–79], re-drawn by Jean-Claude André | Scientific Advisor at INSIS
PROS AND CONS OF 4D PRINTING
SIZE CHANGING
Thanks to the ability of changing shapes, such as shrinking and folding, we can now print objects (that a 3D printer would require from us to print many parts) in one go!
Volume reduction by 87% with two folds | Photo by n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com
SHAPE REMEMBERING MATERIALS
With the usage of Multimaterial Shape Memory Polymers, that are capable of “remembering” a shape, we can create objects that transform themselves in response to external energy output.
TIME
Although 4D shape-shifting is simply amazing and has many possibilities, it requires a lot of time to do so. If a hand sized cube takes up to two hours to change its shape, we can imagine how much it would take for a large sized object, such as furniture to do so.
WATER-LOSS AND FORM-HOLDING
Despite the fact that by adding water, an object can build itself, shrink or grow, it also means that the polymers, can lose new characteristics by losing water through evaporation, which brings a lot of risk that we didn’t have to deal with up till now.
TEMPERATURE NEEDED TO TRANSFORM
Even though heat 4D printing seems to be more reliable right now, as it needs less time to transform, and do not possess a risk of losing it characteristics, (unless deformed by a human or affected by extreme heat) it requires really high temperature that varies between 50-70⁰C to transform, which limits its everyday use.
HOW CAN 4D IMPACT OUR LIVES?
Although 4D printing is still in its infancy, and doesn’t have many practical uses right now, it has a lot of potential to influence our lives. It will for sure have a huge impact on medication, such as self-reconfiguring and self-folding protein, designing sents or make devices that will change shape and release medicine when the patient gets fever. It can also influence other sectors such as fashion, by creating self-readjusting shoes that will transform depending on our action. We will also be able to find them at architecture, for example there is a possibility of self-folding bridges.
CONCLUSION
The current 4D printing is still in its early days and although right now there aren’t many practical ways of using it, we can still see the potential that it brings for improving a lot of aspects of our lives. Over time, it will become very important in many major sectors of education and architecture.
Sources
- https://www.sculpteo.com/blog/2018/01/09/4d-printing-a-shape-memory-polymer/
- https://www.sculpteo.com/en/3d-learning-hub/best-articles-about-3d-printing/4d-printing-technology/
- https://www.3dsourced.com/feature-stories/4d-printing-manufacturing-new-dimension/
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4d-printing-transformative-role-oil-gas-chemical-industry-deepak-seth
I agree that 4D printing has the potential to alter multiple industries and improve many aspects of our lives. The ability to create things that can change shape, color, or other properties over time using external energy inputs like as temperature or light is a unique and powerful tool that may be applied in a range of sectors such as health, fashion, and architecture. I do, however, agree with the blog’s worries about the restrictions and problems of 4D printing, such as the time required for transformation, the risk of water loss and form-holding, and the demand for high temperatures. In order to fully grasp the promise of 4D printing, researchers and developers must continue to explore and address these difficulties.
4d printing, in my opinion, really has a huge potential in the future and humanity will definitely find a lot of application options, but at this moment I can’t even imagine where else, besides those listed in the article, it can be used
Wow! I didn’t hear about it before. It sounds really impressive. Can’t wait to see how many innovations will be made using 4d printing in a few years. It will do as much good as 3d printing did.
I think that 4D printing is a really exciting development. The idea of being able to print objects that can change shape over time is really intriguing and can be very useful. I’m optimistic about the future of 4D printing but it will take a lot of time till this technology will be applicable to our lives.