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Additive Manufacturing for Bioinspired Structures: Experimental Study to Improve the Multimaterial Adhesion Between
Gianni Stano1,2,3, S M Al Islam Ovy2, Gianluca Percoco1,3
1Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Polytechnic University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing
|October 27, 2023
Summary
Researchers optimized 3D printing of bioinspired structures by enhancing stiff-soft material adhesion. The gyroid infill and interface geometry improvements led to superior mechanical properties for soft robotics applications.
Area of Science:
- Bioinspired structures
- Soft robotics
- Additive manufacturing
Background:
- Mimicking nature's structural development is key for advancing soft robotics.
- Stiff-soft structures, like bones and cartilage, offer significant advantages.
- Material extrusion (MEX) additive manufacturing is explored for creating these structures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the use of MEX additive manufacturing for creating stiff-soft bioinspired structures activated by shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators.
- To optimize the interface adhesion between stiff and soft materials using MEX technology.
- To evaluate the impact of infill patterns and interface parameters on mechanical properties.
Main Methods:
- Investigated three commercial stiff composite plastics with different 3D printing infills (gyroid vs. lines).
- Experimentally studied interface geometry, mesh overlapping, and annealing post-treatment to improve stiff-soft material adhesion.
- Utilized MEX additive manufacturing to fabricate and test the optimized structures.
Main Results:
- The gyroid infill demonstrated superior Young's modulus and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) compared to the lines infill.
- Optimized interface parameters achieved a Young's modulus of 48.8 MPa and UTS of 3.8 MPa for nylon+glass fiber and thermoplastic polyurethane.
- The achieved UTS was 48% higher than previously reported values for similar material combinations.
Conclusions:
- MEX additive manufacturing, with optimized interface parameters, significantly enhances stiff-soft material adhesion for bioinspired structures.
- The gyroid infill pattern positively influences the mechanical properties of stiff components.
- The developed approach shows great potential for fabricating advanced bioinspired robotic systems, demonstrated by a functional robotic finger prototype.
