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Abstract
Voxel-based multimaterial jetting additive manufacturing allows fabrication of digital materials (DMs) at the meso-scale (∼1 mm) by controlling the deposition patterns of soft elastomeric and rigid glassy polymers at the voxel-scale (∼90 μm). The digital materials can then be used to create heterogeneous functionally graded material (FGM) structures at the macro-scale (∼10 mm) programmed to behave in a predefined manner. This offers huge potential for design and fabrication of novel and complex bespoke mechanical structures.This paper presents a complete design and manufacturing workflow that simultaneously integrates material design, structural design, and product fabrication of FGM structures based on digital materials. This is enabled by a regression analysis of the experimental data on mechanical performance of the DMs i.e., Young’s modulus, tensile strength and elongation at break. This allows us to express the material behavior simply as a function of the microstructural descriptors (in this case, just volume fraction) without having to understand the underlying microstructural mechanics while simultaneously connecting it to the process parameters.Our proposed design and manufacturing approach is then demonstrated and validated in two series of design exercises to devise complex FGM structures. First, we design, computationally predict and experimentally validate the behavior of prescribed designs of FGM tensile structures with different material gradients. Second, we present a design automation approach for optimal FGM structures. The comparison between the simulations and the experiments with the FGM structures shows that the presented design and fabrication workflow based on our modeling approach for DMs at meso-scale can be effectively used to design and predict the performance of FGMs at macro-scale.
Highlights
Additive manufacturing (AM) based on homogeneous metal, ceramic or polymer materials has made inroads into manufacturing environments [1] such as aerospace, medical devices, spare-part applications, and short-run production environments [2,3]
We presented a design to fabrication workflow for digital materials (DMs)-based functionally graded material (FGM) structures that integrates material and structural design while digitally connecting them to fabrication
In the prescribed design approach, designer specified gradation patterns were directly applied to FGM structures while in the automated approach, optimal gradation patterns were obtained via a design automation technique
Summary
Additive manufacturing (AM) based on homogeneous metal, ceramic or polymer materials has made inroads into manufacturing environments [1] such as aerospace, medical devices, spare-part applications, and short-run production environments [2,3]. The standard printing mode refers to material combinations provided by Stratasys where the volume fractions of soft and rigid polymers and the deposition patterns are hidden from users. The standard approach based on homogenization procedures entails identifying various microstructural descriptors (such as volume fraction, geometry and topology of the arrangement of the constituents in the DMs) and understanding the underlying mechanisms that tie the microscale mechanics to the macro-scale structural behavior. To facilitate the material modeling and thereby the design process, we fabricated and tested DM tensile specimens each with different volume fractions (microstructure descriptor) and print orientations (process parameter) through random yet controlled deposition patterns of rigid polymer, VeroClear (E1 GPa), and soft elastomer, TangoPlus (E1 MPa) [15]. We present here a general methodology for characterization, modeling, design and fabrication of DM-based FGM structures making it one of the first few efforts to connect material characterization and FGM structural design to fabrication and validation
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