4D Printed Hygroscopic Programmable Material Architectures
PhD Dissertation online presentation by David Correa
Thursday 03.31.2022, 05:30pm CET
WebEx via pre-registration at the link below:
https://unistuttgart.webex.com/unistuttgart-en/j.php?RGID=ra0dbfd5812be799c0d446505675acd5b
David Correa’s dissertation investigates the design of material architectures that can change their shape in response to external stimulus. This approach engages the design of meso-scale technical structures, via a precise material deposition, that harness the anisotropic properties inherent to the fabrication process and the constitution of the printing material itself. Organization models from biological organisms, such as motile plant structures, are abstracted into smart 4D printed techniques to preprogram water induced shape-change using copolymers with embedded cellulose fibrils. This principle enables expansion or contraction forces, whose direction and strength are dependent on the architecture of the 3D printed structure. The presented techniques, and bio-inspired approach to material organization, demonstrate the first successful application of differentiated Wood Polymer Composite (WPC) 3D printing for programmable hygroscopic shape-change. The investigations can help to form the basis for complex stimulus-responsive building components capable of performing autonomous transformations for thermal and moisture regulation.
David Correa was a PhD researcher at ICD until he was appointed assistant professor at the University of Waterloo in 2016. David Correa is also a founding partner at LLLab, an experimental design collaboration based in Shanghai.