Fluid-Mediated Fabrication of Complex Assemblies

Area of Science:

• Soft matter physics
• Materials science
• Fluid dynamics

Background:

• Architected soft materials offer unique properties but are challenging to fabricate.
• Controlling material shape during curing is complex due to simultaneous flow and solidification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advancements in directed control of interfacial fluid flows for soft material assembly.
• To highlight the role of capillary forces in free-surface flows of curable elastomers.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of free-surface flows in curable elastomers.
• Investigating the interplay between flow-induced deformations and curing kinetics.
• Examining the influence of capillary forces on interface stability and pattern formation.

Main Results:

• Capillary forces play a dual role: stabilizing interfaces and promoting instabilities like droplet formation.
• These instabilities can spontaneously form regular patterns, such as hexagonal lattices.
• The inherent regularity of these out-of-equilibrium processes is key.

Conclusions:

• Directed control of interfacial fluid instabilities offers a promising route for fabricating architected soft materials.
• This approach enables the creation of complex structures without individual element placement.
• Potential for new, efficient manufacturing paradigms in soft robotics and biomaterials.