Researchers at the University of Glasgow have developed a groundbreaking system that allows for the accurate modeling of 3D-printed composites capable of self-sensing, paving the way for revolutionary applications across various industries, from aerospace to civil engineering. This innovative approach could accelerate the development of smart materials and enable real-time monitoring of structural integrity, enhancing safety and efficiency.
Disrupting 3D Print Material Market
Researchers have long been looking to the future in the additive manufacturing space, working on ever more creative ways to achieve additional capability in 3D printing. Researchers from the University of Glasgow — for their part — have made a significant advance in recent years, creating an all-encompassing system that can model how self-sensing 3D printed materials would perform;
Crank does not rewrite the structure of economic geography, but with its emphasis on meaning less convenience, and more rigorous experimentation and advanced theory, it is a significant strand to evolution in the field. This means that for the first time, researchers can use multiscale finite element modeling to predict how new materials will respond to different combinations of stress and strain and at the same time determine the effect on their electrical resistance.
This pioneering capability opens up the possibility of accelerating development of new and innovative applications in a range of industries, from aerospace to automotive, civil engineering to robotics. Previously, much of the development process had relied on these traditional components; now, the opportunity to tune strength, stiffness and to have self-sensing materials before ever having made a physical prototype dramatically shifts this paradigm away from previous guesswork that sometimes stalled progress.
Real-Time Monitoring and Security Improvements
Perhaps most exciting is the promise of what this research could do for aerospace and automotive industries. This in turn allows manufacturers to design materials that can essentially monitor their own health with real-time data provided by the team.
If developed it could bring widespread safety and efficiency improvements for aerospace and automobile parts. Picture monitoring the state of vital infrastructure, like bridges, tunnels and high-rise buildings in an ongoing fashion without requiring resource-intensive manual inspections. Thus, much-needed early warning messages could emerge from these self-sensing materials alerting the maintenance crews of some issues just in time so that they can carry out maintenance before failure occurs.
The same advantages are likely to be found in the realm of robotics, and these materials could alert soldiers when their body armour plates become compromised on the battlefield. This method for monitoring structural integrity may change row we view safety and maintenance in many circumstances.
Unleashing Additive Manufacturing Ability
This work is an extension of research the team has done before, examining additive manufacturing defect-promoted fracture in components. Building on this work, the ICME researchers have developed an integrated framework that can predict the behavior of self-sensing materials from the atomistic scale up through multiple scales and incorporating different types of physics.
As to the current study, Concentrating on polyetherimide (PEI) materials with inserted carbon nanotubes, they concluded that the multiscale finite element modeling strategy ought not be hard to expand to extra materials created through additive manufacturing. Such infinite designability will significantly expand the range of materials that could create new autonomous sensing architected materials and set the material by design methodology free.
The team says its work could have wide-ranging repercussions as it further seeks to explore the frontier of what is possible. Whether it is to improve safety in critical infrastructure; to offer real time monitoring of structural integrity across a wide range of industries, this research signifies an actionable stride towards the envisioned future where self sensing materials are not an exception but commonplace.
