Title : Rapid manufacturing anywhere, anytime
Abstract:
Rapid manufacturing on space/air/sea/land missions, where either gravitational force is missing or severe random disturbance may present continuously, is highly in demand. However, till today, there is no reliable technique for such working environments. The purpose of this study is to develop a technology for rapid 3D printing in solid state of polymeric materials to get rid of the problems in harsh working environment. The basic concept is to cross-link by either UV-light or photo-induced-heat of polymeric materials in the solid state for rapid volumetric additive manufacturing. The uncross-linked parts can be removed by heating or cooling for melting, or washing away by solvent. Finally, the shape memory effect (SME) of the cross-linked polymers is applied to ensure high accuracy of the printed items.
We have successfully demonstrated this concept using thermal gel, UV cross-linkable vitrimer and other conventional materials.
Biography:
Dr Wei Min Huang is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. With over 30 years of experience on various shape memory materials (alloys, polymers, composites and hybrids), he has published over 200 papers in journals, such as Materials Today, Accounts of Chemical Research, and Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, and has been invited to review manuscripts from over 300 international journals (including Progress in Polymer Science, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, and Advanced Functional Materials, etc), project proposals from American Chemical Society, Hong Kong Research Grants Council, etc, and book proposals from Springer, Elsevier and CRC. He has published two books (Thin film shape memory alloys – fundamentals and device applications, Polyurethane shape memory polymers) and is currently on the editorial board of four dozen of journals. He holds over 50 granted patents in China, USA, Singapore and Europe.
