4D- Printing is the emerging research area which makes use of intelligent materials like Shape Memory Alloys(SMA) and Shape Memory Polymers(SMP). In simple words 4DP is the combination of 3D printing technology and smart materials. The fundamental difference between 3D printing and 4D printing is that 3D printing produces a static output structures which does not have a time element (dimension). whereas 4D printing can produce dynamic structure, adjustable shapes, with different properties or functionality.
Basic Constituents of 4DP:
3D Printing Facility.
Stimulus.
Smart Materials. (Shape Memory Materials)
Interaction Mechanism.
Mathematical Modeling.
4DP of smart materials has the characteristics like Self-Repair, Self-Sensing,Self-Assembly, Multi functionality. Because of these it has wide range of application in *Medical field - Smart stent- develop stents which can get expanded and take required shape with the help of heat of the patient body.
*Space - self-healing skin for spacecraft, self deploying satellite solar arrays.
and many more .etc
Thank you Dhinesh Ks for this great comment. By the way, did you have an idea if SMP can be used as matrix for composite application, if we can reinforce SMP by carbon fibers.
Dear Habibi Mohamed here I have attached a research article based on SMPC. To overcome the low strength and modulas properties of SMP materials for hinge application of solar arrays, they replaced it with shape memory polymers reinforced with carbon fibre fabric material. You can find the detailed outcomes in the attached file.
Pyroelectrics materials, Piezoelectric materials, Magnetorestrictive materials, Electrostrictive materials, Shape memory alloys are couple of examples of intelligent materials and very important properties of such materials are restraining the crack propagation in material that is developed by stress intensity around the damaged point, either load may static or dynamic ,material should create resistance for that action as well as detection automatically (shock behavior detection), material having capability of self reparability & maintainability (self- healing characteristics), materials which are usable up to ultra-high temperatures by suitably changing composition through transformation (thermal mitigation) specially made.
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