4D Printing: Future Insight in Additive Manufacturing

4D Printing: Future Insight in Additive Manufacturing

Development in additive manufacturing is exceptionally rapid than the expected forecast so far and it has traced out newdimensions in engineering applications. 3D printing technology becomes more glamorous when Skylar Tibbits incorporatedthe concept of “Time” as a fourth dimension by encapsulating smart materials in current additive manufacturing technique. Materials having an explicit response to external stimuli over a certain time span are designated as smart materials and additivemanufacturing of such time-dependent, programmable, and intelligent materials is termed as 4D printing. In 4D printing,primary 3D printed configuration switched exclusively into a transformed shape when exposed to an external stimuli,e.g. heat, light, water, chemical, electric current, magnetic field or pH. Perhaps, additive manufacturing technology seemsto be superseded exclusively by this modern technology in forthcoming years, and much effort is demanding from everydiscipline to actualize this technology. A task-oriented entire landscape of 4D printing followed by a comprehensive smartmaterial perspective is presented in this review. Graphical abstract set forth a route to the complete process comprehension. Moreover, other components of 4D technology like customary techniques, computational challenges, reversibility and currentstature of 4D printing are probed through recent experimental and theoretical literature. Finally, potential applicationsof 4D printing are summarised with promising research directions and outlook.

Development in additive manufacturing is exceptionally rapid than the expected forecast so far and it has traced out newdimensions in engineering applications. 3D printing technology becomes more glamorous when Skylar Tibbits incorporatedthe concept of “Time” as a fourth dimension by encapsulating smart materials in current additive manufacturing technique. Materials having an explicit response to external stimuli over a certain time span are designated as smart materials and additivemanufacturing of such time-dependent, programmable, and intelligent materials is termed as 4D printing. In 4D printing,primary 3D printed configuration switched exclusively into a transformed shape when exposed to an external stimuli,e.g. heat, light, water, chemical, electric current, magnetic field or pH. Perhaps, additive manufacturing technology seemsto be superseded exclusively by this modern technology in forthcoming years, and much effort is demanding from everydiscipline to actualize this technology. A task-oriented entire landscape of 4D printing followed by a comprehensive smartmaterial perspective is presented in this review. Graphical abstract set forth a route to the complete process comprehension. Moreover, other components of 4D technology like customary techniques, computational challenges, reversibility and currentstature of 4D printing are probed through recent experimental and theoretical literature. Finally, potential applicationsof 4D printing are summarised with promising research directions and outlook.