Multi-material 3D printing for the fabrication of biocomposite materials
Topic(s) : Special Sessions
Co-authors :
Kayah ST GERMAIN (CANADA), Hani NAGUIB (CANADA), Laurence CHOCINSKI-ARNAULT (FRANCE), Fabienne TOUCHARD (FRANCE)Abstract :
Additive manufacturing is a promising and disruptive technology that can be applied in many industrial sectors, such as aeronautics, robotics, and bioengineering, for the ease of use and high amount of customizability that it offers. FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) particularly can be used to create 4D structures that are capable of actuating with the use of intelligent materials such as shape memory polymers and their composites. The properties and abilities of the printed materials are also able to be tuned depending on the printer settings, providing further avenues for optimization and customization.
Biocomposite materials are being seen incorporated more frequently in industry because of favourable properties such as being highly recyclable, biocompatible, biodegradable, having low environmental impact, and comprising of materials that can be found abundantly in nature. Despite the numerous advantages, there are still some disadvantages that need to be addressed for biocomposite materials to be used extensively, with one of the main problems being high moisture uptake due to the inherent hydrophilicity of the bio-additives as well as damage resistance. It can be noticed that these problems are mostly concentrated at the surface of the material, meaning that they can be addressed with the addition of a surface modification or treatment process.
This study focused on designing novel biocomposite fabricated using multimaterial 3D printing. Owing to 4D printing these biocomposites will be activated and could potentially be used for deployable structures. The biocomposite is fabricated using PLA (Polylactic Acid) based with hemp fibre reinforcement and the material properties enhanced with a durable, robust hydrophobic outer layer that improved the longevity. Utilizing a multimaterial 3D printer, the reinforcing outer layer is able to be easily integrated into the fabrication process of the biocomposite without the need for additional post processing, allowing for the fabrication of the biocomposite with the improved properties to be done in a single step. With the basis of the biocomposite being PLA, which is a shape memory polymer, it can also be capable of 4D actuation in response to temperature, exhibiting that the addition of the hemp fibres did not interfere with the shape memory abilities of the PLA. The thermo-mechanical properties, shape memory ability, and damage mechanisms of the biocomposite are all tested and showed the capabilities and high performance of the material, demonstrating the effectiveness of both the composite and fabrication technique.
Biocomposite materials are being seen incorporated more frequently in industry because of favourable properties such as being highly recyclable, biocompatible, biodegradable, having low environmental impact, and comprising of materials that can be found abundantly in nature. Despite the numerous advantages, there are still some disadvantages that need to be addressed for biocomposite materials to be used extensively, with one of the main problems being high moisture uptake due to the inherent hydrophilicity of the bio-additives as well as damage resistance. It can be noticed that these problems are mostly concentrated at the surface of the material, meaning that they can be addressed with the addition of a surface modification or treatment process.
This study focused on designing novel biocomposite fabricated using multimaterial 3D printing. Owing to 4D printing these biocomposites will be activated and could potentially be used for deployable structures. The biocomposite is fabricated using PLA (Polylactic Acid) based with hemp fibre reinforcement and the material properties enhanced with a durable, robust hydrophobic outer layer that improved the longevity. Utilizing a multimaterial 3D printer, the reinforcing outer layer is able to be easily integrated into the fabrication process of the biocomposite without the need for additional post processing, allowing for the fabrication of the biocomposite with the improved properties to be done in a single step. With the basis of the biocomposite being PLA, which is a shape memory polymer, it can also be capable of 4D actuation in response to temperature, exhibiting that the addition of the hemp fibres did not interfere with the shape memory abilities of the PLA. The thermo-mechanical properties, shape memory ability, and damage mechanisms of the biocomposite are all tested and showed the capabilities and high performance of the material, demonstrating the effectiveness of both the composite and fabrication technique.