Tobia, Jay. Development and characterization of a droplet-based material feed system for multi-material projection micro-stereolithography. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3N3004T
DescriptionCurrent additive manufacturing techniques focus on creating useful three dimensional (3D) objects from a single material. The inability to incorporate multiple materials in a single part limits the ability of additive manufacturing technology to create objects with engineered properties and functions. This research aims to develop a process by which multiple materials can be integrated into a single object in a fast, efficient, and scalable operation. A droplet-based material feed system for projection micro-stereolithography solves current problems with 3D printing of multiple materials by allowing printing materials to be switched by depositing droplets of different liquid resins. Precise control of small droplet volume is obtained by pressure control of the resin injection nozzles, exact opening times of fluid valves, and appropriate surface coatings in order to portion droplets so that just enough material is brought to the build area, resulting in minimal material waste. Digitally modulated high resolution light patterns solidifies thin layers of ultraviolet curable resin in succession to build a final 3D object in a layer by layer fashion. The effectiveness of this novel solution is discussed by creating objects similar to those of other systems and measuring total build time, material waste, and final print quality. The ability of the process to be scaled up allows for printing of high resolution multi-material objects on a large scale. The multimaterial additive manufacturing technique with efficient materials management will enable the cost effective and rapid production of new engineering applications such as bioinspired soft robotics, biomedical micro-devices, and functional tissue scaffolds.