Figure 3: MM-3D printing of complex heterogeneous composite with intricate shape, local texture and local composition.
From: Multimaterial magnetically assisted 3D printing of composite materials
(a) Design and programming of the heterogeneous composite, highlighting the changes in the local texture (white arrows) and platelet concentration within the 3D structure. (b) Steps involved in the MM-3D printing process. The shaping ink is indicated in grey, whereas the texturing ink is shown in beige. Patterned black foils represent the lithographic masks. (c) Actual MM-3D printed object with internal helicoidal staircase. Scale bar, 5mm. (d; Top) Photograph of the top layer of the structure, highlighting the successful realization of the programmed gradient in platelet concentration and locally different platelet alignment. Optical micrographs I and II indicate that the local platelet orientation matches the programmed architecture. (d; Bottom) Photograph of the bottom layer of the structure, indicating the effective printing of domains with different local platelet orientations: in-plane oriented platelets (III) and out-of-plane oriented platelets aligned along different pre-programmed directions (IV - VI).
