{"id":5630,"date":"2022-11-29T15:26:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-29T15:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/?p=5630"},"modified":"2024-08-20T14:16:03","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T18:16:03","slug":"adding-a-fourth-dimension-to-3d-printing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/Q4\/adding-a-fourth-dimension-to-3d-printing","title":{"rendered":"Adding a fourth dimension to 3D printing"},"content":{"rendered":"

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —<\/p> \n

Purdue University researchers have developed a patent-pending method to add particles to filament and disperse them evenly through a traditional fused deposition modeling, or FDM, 3D printer, which will aid industry in manufacturing functional parts. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Brittany Newell<\/a> and Jose M. Garcia-Bravo<\/a>, associate professors in the School of Engineering Technology<\/a> in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute<\/a>, and Tyler Tallman<\/a>, assistant professor in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics<\/a> in the College of Engineering<\/a>, have created a novel wet-mixing method to introduce electrically conductive particles into 3D printing filament polymers. Cole Maynard, who earned his PhD in August, and Julio Hernandez, a doctoral candidate, were pivotal to the research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional 3D printing makes prototypes of parts with no sensing capabilities. Sensors must be added to the part after the fact if assessments are to be made. The process can be thought of as adding sprinkles to cookies after they are baked: The sprinkles exist only on the outside of the cookie. Traditional foil-type strain gauges, which are the most common strain sensors, are adhered to the surface of a printed part by an epoxy resin, Newell said. However, in this work the sprinkles are added throughout the cookie dough before baking. This means that sensing capabilities are an inherent part of the printed component and allow for sensing inside of the component. Unlike sprinkles, these sensors are too small to be seen without a microscope. Their tiny scale allows the printed part to maintain strength it would have otherwise sacrificed due to large sensors built in, while still achieving fully integrated sensing capabilities.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGenerally, we apply that strain gauge across the full part or apply it to the top and bottom of the part to get information on overall strain across the part,\u201d Newell said. \u201cHowever, the middle and internal structures are never monitored since the gauges are glued to the surface.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Purdue wet-mixing method ensures an even distribution of particles throughout the filament. With the sensors dispersed evenly in the filament, manufacturers and researchers can design parts with a wider variety of shapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe results from this work enable users to create complex 3D structures with embedded strain gauges, rapidly moving traditional prototype pieces into fully functional and structurally assessable parts,\u201d Newell said. \u201cA limitation of application of 3D printed parts has been in their durability. With this development, we can continually monitor the structural health of the part with the sensor embedded in the print.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tallman said, \u201cThis method produces materials that are conductive with very good uniformity, which greatly expands the electrical applications of 3D printed parts and sensor designs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garcia-Bravo said, \u201cThe materials are also tunable, meaning we can adjust the electrical and mechanical properties to optimize the sensor or part for a desired application.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The novel wet-mixing process is not limited only to sensor conductivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis work can be further expanded to add other particle types using the same wet-mixing method,\u201d Newell said. \u201cThis could include the addition of magnetic particles for electromagnetic fields, fluorescent particles and other functionalities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research was published in the July 2022<\/a> edition of the peer-reviewed journal Advanced Engineering Materials and in the 2020<\/a>, 2021<\/a> and 2022 editions of the journal American Society of Mechanical Engineers Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems. The researchers have received funding from the Naval Engineering Education Consortium, or NEEC, a program from the NAVSEA warfare centers aiming to cultivate partnerships between the Navy and higher education institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers disclosed the innovation to the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization<\/a>, which has applied for a patent on the intellectual property. Industry partners seeking to further develop this innovation should contact Dhananjay Sewak, dsewak@prf.org<\/a>, about reference number 69740.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newell said industry partners are being sought to create a process to scale up and further test the method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to increase the batch size to an industrial scale and integrate the customizable aspect of this work with industrial 3D printers,\u201d Newell said. \u201cThe range of items that can be produced with these filaments is broad, and testing should be done to expand to new prototypes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Purdue University<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today\u2019s toughest challenges. Ranked in each of the last five years as one of the 10 Most Innovative universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https:\/\/stories.purdue.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization<\/a>\u00a0operates one of the most comprehensive technology-transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university\u2019s academic activities through commercializing, licensing and protecting Purdue intellectual property. In fiscal year 2021, the office reported 159 deals finalized with 236 technologies signed, 394 disclosures received and 187 issued U.S. patents. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. In 2020 IPWatchdog Institute ranked Purdue third nationally in startup creation and in the top 20 for patents. The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Contact\u00a0otcip@prf.org<\/a>\u00a0for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n
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\n Writer:<\/strong>\u00a0Steve Martin,\u00a0sgmartin@prf.org<\/a>
Sources:<\/strong>\u00a0Brittany Newell,\u00a0bnewell1@purdue.edu<\/a>
Jose M. Garcia-Bravo,\u00a0jmgarcia@purdue.edu<\/a>
Tyler Tallman,\u00a0ttallman@purdue.edu<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University researchers have developed a patent-pending method to add particles to filament and disperse them evenly through a traditional fused deposition modeling, or FDM, 3D printer, which will aid industry in manufacturing functional parts.  Brittany<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,316],"tags":[],"department":[31,24,25,80],"source":[35],"purdue_today_topic":[72],"coauthors":[44],"class_list":["post-5630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-prf","department-engineering","department-research-foundation","department-research-park","department-technology-commercialization","source-purdue-research-foundation","purdue_today_topic-general"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5630"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5634,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5630\/revisions\/5634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5630"},{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=5630"},{"taxonomy":"source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/source?post=5630"},{"taxonomy":"purdue_today_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/purdue_today_topic?post=5630"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=5630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}