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IMAGE: The morphing nozzle in action, 3D printing fiber-filled composite materials with on-demand control of fiber alignment for "4D printing. For a larger image, visit: go.umd.edu/morphing...
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Credit: University of Maryland
Engineers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have created a new shape-changing or "morphing" 3D printing nozzle that was featured as a Frontispiece in the January 5th issue of the journal
Advanced Materials Technologies.
The team's morphing nozzle offers researchers new means for 3D printing "fiber-filled composites" - materials made up of short fibers that boost special properties over traditional 3D-printed parts, such as enhancing part strength or electrical conductivity. The challenge is that these properties are based on the directions or "orientations" of the short fibers, which has been difficult to control during the 3D printing process, until now.