On 3D printing of electro-active PVDF-Graphene and Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticle-based composite as a self-healing repair solution for heritage structures

Author(s):  
Vinay Kumar ◽  
Rupinder Singh ◽  
Inderpreet Singh Ahuja

Construction is the part of human activity which is directly linked to urbanization for moving ahead on the path of growth and prosperity. Construction activities in past centuries are now part of our precious heritage. The repair and maintenance of heritage structures are of great importance for present-day researchers. One of the most common damage these century-long constructions faces are in form of surface cracks. In the present study, investigations were performed for a 3D printing-based customized solution for crack repair and maintenance of heritage structures. In this study, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer was reinforced with graphene (Gr) and Mn-doped ZnO nano-particles to prepare a smart composite material for crack repair and restoration. The composite was successfully 3D printed on fused deposition modeling (FDM) based 3D printer after investigating its rheological, thermal, and mechanical properties. The in-house developed composite was tested for smart characteristics to use as a programmable solution for filling cracks. The piezoelectric property and dielectric constant of 3D printed disk-shaped composite (PVDF-Gr-Mn-ZnO) were obtained after DC poling (to be used as stimulus) of the functional prototype. The results of the study suggest that the electro-active nature, volumetric change, and charge storing capacity of the additively manufactured composite may be used practically to acquire the shape of cavity/crack present in the constructed wall and repair the damages that occurred in a heritage site. The photoluminescence (PLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis was used to ascertain the properties of the prepared composite. Also, the results obtained from the morphological analysis are reported to support the outcomes of the research.

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 305
Author(s):  
Linda Ritzen ◽  
Vincenzo Montano ◽  
Santiago J. Garcia

The use of self-healing (SH) polymers to make 3D-printed polymeric parts offers the potential to increase the quality of 3D-printed parts and to increase their durability and damage tolerance due to their (on-demand) dynamic nature. Nevertheless, 3D-printing of such dynamic polymers is not a straightforward process due to their polymer architecture and rheological complexity and the limited quantities produced at lab-scale. This limits the exploration of the full potential of self-healing polymers. In this paper, we present the complete process for fused deposition modelling of a room temperature self-healing polyurethane. Starting from the synthesis and polymer slab manufacturing, we processed the polymer into a continuous filament and 3D printed parts. For the characterization of the 3D printed parts, we used a compression cut test, which proved useful when limited amount of material is available. The test was able to quasi-quantitatively assess both bulk and 3D printed samples and their self-healing behavior. The mechanical and healing behavior of the 3D printed self-healing polyurethane was highly similar to that of the bulk SH polymer. This indicates that the self-healing property of the polymer was retained even after multiple processing steps and printing. Compared to a commercial 3D-printing thermoplastic polyurethane, the self-healing polymer displayed a smaller mechanical dependency on the printing conditions with the added value of healing cuts at room temperature.


2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoejin Kim ◽  
Torres Fernando ◽  
Mingyue Li ◽  
Yirong Lin ◽  
Tzu-Liang Bill Tseng

This paper presents a fabrication process to enhance homogeneous dispersion of BaTiO3 nanoparticles in polyvinylidene fluoride matrix nanocomposites using fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing technique. The nanocomposites integrate the functional property (piezoelectric, pyroelectric, and dielectric) of BaTiO3 with the flexibility and lightweight of polyvinylidene fluoride. Traditionally, the simple yet effective way to fabricate the nanocomposites includes solvent-casting, spin-coating, and hot-embossing. However, these methods have disadvantages such as heterogeneous dispersion of BaTiO3 nanoparticles in polyvinylidene fluoride matrix due to the higher density of BaTiO3 compared with polyvinylidene fluoride and agglomeration during fabrication process. This heterogeneous dispersion could weaken functional and mechanical properties. Herein, fused deposition modeling 3D printing technique was utilized for homogeneous dispersion to alleviate the agglomeration of BaTiO3 in polyvinylidene fluoride through two processes: filament extrusion and 3D printing. In addition, thermal poling was applied to further enhance piezoelectric response of the BaTiO3/polyvinylidene fluoride nanocomposites. It is found that 3D printed BaTiO3/polyvinylidene fluoride nanocomposites exhibit three times higher piezoelectric response than solvent-casted nanocomposites.


Author(s):  
Michael A. Luzuriaga ◽  
Danielle R. Berry ◽  
John C. Reagan ◽  
Ronald A. Smaldone ◽  
Jeremiah J. Gassensmith

Biodegradable polymer microneedle (MN) arrays are an emerging class of transdermal drug delivery devices that promise a painless and sanitary alternative to syringes; however, prototyping bespoke needle architectures is expensive and requires production of new master templates. Here, we present a new microfabrication technique for MNs using fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing using polylactic acid, an FDA approved, renewable, biodegradable, thermoplastic material. We show how this natural degradability can be exploited to overcome a key challenge of FDM 3D printing, in particular the low resolution of these printers. We improved the feature size of the printed parts significantly by developing a post fabrication chemical etching protocol, which allowed us to access tip sizes as small as 1 μm. With 3D modeling software, various MN shapes were designed and printed rapidly with custom needle density, length, and shape. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed that our method resulted in needle tip sizes in the range of 1 – 55 µm, which could successfully penetrate and break off into porcine skin. We have also shown that these MNs have comparable mechanical strengths to currently fabricated MNs and we further demonstrated how the swellability of PLA can be exploited to load small molecule drugs and how its degradability in skin can release those small molecules over time.


Author(s):  
Juan Sebastian Cuellar ◽  
Dick Plettenburg ◽  
Amir A Zadpoor ◽  
Paul Breedveld ◽  
Gerwin Smit

Various upper-limb prostheses have been designed for 3D printing but only a few of them are based on bio-inspired design principles and many anatomical details are not typically incorporated even though 3D printing offers advantages that facilitate the application of such design principles. We therefore aimed to apply a bio-inspired approach to the design and fabrication of articulated fingers for a new type of 3D printed hand prosthesis that is body-powered and complies with basic user requirements. We first studied the biological structure of human fingers and their movement control mechanisms in order to devise the transmission and actuation system. A number of working principles were established and various simplifications were made to fabricate the hand prosthesis using a fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printer with dual material extrusion. We then evaluated the mechanical performance of the prosthetic device by measuring its ability to exert pinch forces and the energy dissipated during each operational cycle. We fabricated our prototypes using three polymeric materials including PLA, TPU, and Nylon. The total weight of the prosthesis was 92 g with a total material cost of 12 US dollars. The energy dissipated during each cycle was 0.380 Nm with a pinch force of ≈16 N corresponding to an input force of 100 N. The hand is actuated by a conventional pulling cable used in BP prostheses. It is connected to a shoulder strap at one end and to the coupling of the whiffle tree mechanism at the other end. The whiffle tree mechanism distributes the force to the four tendons, which bend all fingers simultaneously when pulled. The design described in this manuscript demonstrates several bio-inspired design features and is capable of performing different grasping patterns due to the adaptive grasping provided by the articulated fingers. The pinch force obtained is superior to other fully 3D printed body-powered hand prostheses, but still below that of conventional body powered hand prostheses. We present a 3D printed bio-inspired prosthetic hand that is body-powered and includes all of the following characteristics: adaptive grasping, articulated fingers, and minimized post-printing assembly. Additionally, the low cost and low weight make this prosthetic hand a worthy option mainly in locations where state-of-the-art prosthetic workshops are absent.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 2601
Author(s):  
Yue Ba ◽  
Yu Wen ◽  
Shibin Wu

Recent innovations in 3D printing technologies and processes have influenced how landscape products are designed, built, and developed. In landscape architecture, reduced-size models are 3D-printed to replicate full-size structures. However, high surface roughness usually occurs on the surfaces of such 3D-printed components, which requires additional post-treatment. In this work, we develop a new type of landscape design structure based on the fused deposition modeling (FDM) technique and present a laser polishing method for FDM-fabricated polylactic acid (PLA) mechanical components, whereby the surface roughness of the laser-polished surfaces is reduced from over Ra 15 µm to less than 0.25 µm. The detailed results of thermodynamics and microstructure evolution are further analyzed during laser polishing. The stability and accuracy of the results are evaluated based on the standard deviation. Additionally, the superior tensile and flexural properties are examined in the laser-polished layer, in which the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) is increased by up to 46.6% and the flexural strength is increased by up to 74.5% compared with the as-fabricated components. Finally, a real polished landscape model is simulated and optimized using a series of scales.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2563
Author(s):  
Ivan Grgić ◽  
Vjekoslav Wertheimer ◽  
Mirko Karakašić ◽  
Željko Ivandić

Recent soft tissue studies have reported issues that occur during experimentation, such as the tissue slipping and rupturing during tensile loads, the lack of standard testing procedure and equipment, the necessity for existing laboratory equipment adaptation, etc. To overcome such issues and fulfil the need for the determination of the biomechanical properties of the human gracilis and the superficial third of the quadriceps tendons, 3D printed clamps with metric thread profile-based geometry were developed. The clamps’ geometry consists of a truncated pyramid pattern, which prevents the tendons from slipping and rupturing. The use of the thread application in the design of the clamp could be used in standard clamping development procedures, unlike in previously custom-made clamps. Fused deposition modeling (FDM) was used as a 3D printing technique, together with polylactic acid (PLA), which was used as a material for clamp printing. The design was confirmed and the experiments were conducted by using porcine and human tendons. The findings justify the usage of 3D printing technology for parts manufacturing in the case of tissue testing and establish independence from the existing machine clamp system, since it was possible to print clamps for each prepared specimen and thus reduce the time for experiment setup.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 5032
Author(s):  
Alec Ikei ◽  
James Wissman ◽  
Kaushik Sampath ◽  
Gregory Yesner ◽  
Syed N. Qadri

In the functional 3D-printing field, poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE) has been shown to be a more promising choice of material over polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), due to its ability to be poled to a high level of piezoelectric performance without a large mechanical strain ratio. In this work, a novel presentation of in situ 3D printing and poling of PVDF-TrFE is shown with a d33 performance of up to 18 pC N−1, more than an order of magnitude larger than previously reported in situ poled polymer piezoelectrics. This finding paves the way forward for pressure sensors with much higher sensitivity and accuracy. In addition, the ability of in situ pole sensors to demonstrate different performance levels is shown in a fully 3D-printed five-element sensor array, accelerating and increasing the design space for complex sensing arrays. The in situ poled sample performance was compared to the performance of samples prepared through an ex situ corona poling process.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1524
Author(s):  
Sadikalmahdi Abdella ◽  
Souha H. Youssef ◽  
Franklin Afinjuomo ◽  
Yunmei Song ◽  
Paris Fouladian ◽  
...  

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is among the rapidly evolving technologies with applications in many sectors. The pharmaceutical industry is no exception, and the approval of the first 3D-printed tablet (Spiratam®) marked a revolution in the field. Several studies reported the fabrication of different dosage forms using a range of 3D printing techniques. Thermosensitive drugs compose a considerable segment of available medications in the market requiring strict temperature control during processing to ensure their efficacy and safety. Heating involved in some of the 3D printing technologies raises concerns regarding the feasibility of the techniques for printing thermolabile drugs. Studies reported that semi-solid extrusion (SSE) is the commonly used printing technique to fabricate thermosensitive drugs. Digital light processing (DLP), binder jetting (BJ), and stereolithography (SLA) can also be used for the fabrication of thermosensitive drugs as they do not involve heating elements. Nonetheless, degradation of some drugs by light source used in the techniques was reported. Interestingly, fused deposition modelling (FDM) coupled with filling techniques offered protection against thermal degradation. Concepts such as selection of low melting point polymers, adjustment of printing parameters, and coupling of more than one printing technique were exploited in printing thermosensitive drugs. This systematic review presents challenges, 3DP procedures, and future directions of 3D printing of thermo-sensitive formulations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Rupp ◽  
Wolfgang H. Binder

Additive manufacturing has significantly changed polymer science and technology by engineering complex material shapes and compositions. With the advent of dynamic properties in polymeric materials as a fundamental principle to achieve, e.g., self-healing properties, the use of supramolecular chemistry as a tool for molecular ordering has become important. By adjusting molecular nanoscopic (supramolecular) bonds in polymers, rheological properties, immanent for 3D printing, can be adjusted, resulting in shape persistence and improved printing. We here review recent progress in the 3D printing of supramolecular polymers, with a focus on fused deposition modelling (FDM) to overcome some of its limitations still being present up to date and open perspectives for their application.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-474
Author(s):  
Martin Krčma ◽  
David Škaroupka ◽  
Petr Vosynek ◽  
Tomáš Zikmund ◽  
Jozef Kaiser ◽  
...  

Purpose This paper aims to focus on the evaluation of a polymer concrete as a three-dimensional (3D) printing material. An associated company has developed plastic concrete made from reused unrecyclable plastic waste. Its intended use is as a construction material. Design/methodology/approach The concrete mix, called PolyBet, composed of polypropylene and glass sand, is printed by the fused deposition modelling process. The process of material and parameter selection is described. The mechanical properties of the filled material were compared to its cast state. Samples were made from castings and two different orientations of 3D-printed parts. Three-point flex tests were carried out, and the area of the break was examined. Computed tomography of the samples was carried out. Findings The influence of the 3D printing process on the material was evaluated. The mechanical performance of the longitudinal samples was close to the cast state. There was a difference in the failure mode between the states, with cast parts exhibiting a tougher behaviour, with fractures propagating in a stair-like manner. The 3D-printed samples exhibited high degrees of porosity. Originality/value The results suggest that the novel material is a good fit for 3D printing, with little to no degradation caused by the process. Layer adhesion was shown to be excellent, with negligible effect on the finished part for the longitudinal orientation. That means, if large-scale testing of buildability is successful, the material is a good fit for additive manufacturing of building components and other large-scale structures.


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