An ontology-based framework to formalize and represent 4D printing knowledge in design

Abstract

Over the last decade, 4D printing paradigm has received intensive research efforts, whether from researchers in additive manufacturing (AM) or in smart materials (SMs) development. Related research works have thereby generated a large number of ad-hoc solutions with relevant disparate and scattered knowledge. This lack of common core knowledge is mainly due to the multiple involved expertise for fabricating stimulus-reactive structures. The scientific issue of federating and reconciling knowledge is also reinforced especially if such technology must be integrated into the product design process, falling under the field of design for 4D printing. To tackle this challenge, it becomes crucial to formalize and represent knowledge relating AM processes/techniques, SMs behaviours, stimuli and transformation functions with the variety of design objects. In such a context, the paper aims at developing an ontology-based framework for the semantic and logical description of transformable objects in the era of 4D printing for product-process design related purposes. This framework – which is built upon a foundational ontology associated with mereotopology for describing dynamical phenomena called basic formal ontology – consists in introducing a domain ontology equipped with reasoning capabilities supported by description logics for SMs selection and distribution, transformation sequence planning and AM process planning purposes.