What is 4D-printing?
The production of many companies increasingly requires flexible and localized production in order to respond to the market as quickly as possible, and 4D printing could be a major transformation in this. Mass production can be flexible and customized, costs and complexity of products can be reduced by allowing the products to take different forms during transport, storage and production. The adaptability of the products will provide new services and the overall developments of 4D printing will provide new approaches to business models and process strategy. In short, the arrival of 4D printing could help the entire industrial strategy to a higher level. An evolution in new production technology would also bring about a new way of thinking within companies, especially the way we perceive objects.
The use of 4D printing will change the way
we view fundamental transformation functions. In particular, how it looks at
bending, folding, twisting, expansion/contraction, property and change of
state. This is done by using Nano composites and adding dimensions such as
memory and time. The figure below shows the transformations that can take place
with 4D printing.
Figure 1: Transformation functions enabled by 4D-printing
Sources used in this post
The status, barriers, challenges, and future in design for 4D printing
More information about Technology 4D-printing:
Expected future developments - Short term