4D Printing Unleashes New Possibilities In Manufacturing

By Cheryl Knight, contributing writer

Additive Manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, seems to have taken the world by storm. According to an article by 3D Printing Industry, the next evolution of this technology is just around the corner: 4D printing takes the entire printing process to the next level.

With 4D printing, the printed item continues evolving over time as it is exposed to external stimuli. Such stimuli range from heat, cooling, gravity, and wind. Innovative uses of 4D printing technology include things like water pipes that change shape to help with the flow of water.

The ability to make these so-called smart objects could change the way manufacturers — and end users — do things, according to a Smithsonian article. Skylar Tibbits, researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says, “Normally, we print things, and we think they’re done. That’s the final output and then we assemble them. But we want them to be able to transform and change shape over time. And we want them to assemble themselves.”

Areas that could see widespread use of 4D technology are disaster recovery and extreme environments. The U.S. Army also sees potential in 4D print technology, especially when dealing with battlefield obstacles, such as shelters or bridges that unfold and spring into shape when needed. Another application of 4D technology is construction of one-story housing.

An ASME article says manufacturing, as well as packaging and biomedical, especially can benefit from the technology: “The ability to create shape-memory effects like folding, curling, stretching or twisting — based on the orientation and location of particular fibers within composite materials — opens up huge possibilities for product design. It may also be possible this shape-altering technology can be adapted to metals and other materials.”