Additive manufacturing leverages computer-based software to create components for products by depositing either dielectric or conductive materials, layer by layer, into different geometric shapes.Since its birth in the 1980s, 3D printing technology for additive manufacturing has emerged as a revolutionary capability, and, in the decades since, 3D printing has overthrown traditional concepts of industrial production (such as removing materials through machining, milling, carving, or other means) in a tremendous range of applications.History of 3D Printing.
Image courtesy of Yang Yang and Manos Tentzeris.Four-dimensional printing is a new technique that engages an additional dimension—time, in addition to height, width, and depth—to self-transform printed prototypes from one form to another configuration.Although 4D printing has come to the discipline of electrical and electronic engineering only in recent years, applications have already been pioneered in fields such as soft robotics, actuators, biosensors, and electromagnetic illusions, among others.
Product developers have seized upon the unprecedented flexibility, scalability, and other benefits conveyed by the technique.For example, 4D printing—creatively coupled with ideas from art and origami—has enabled the first generation of morphing, shape-changing electronics that operate at frequencies above 5G.In the 21st century, additive manufacturing, leveraging 3D and 4D printing, is evolving into a multidisciplinary technology with contributions from scientists and engineers specializing in materials science, automation, and electrical and electronic engineering.
Additively manufactured electronics (AME) are today enabling complex electronic component design with dramatic benefits of fast prototyping, low entry cost, and in-house short-run manufacturing.Such characteristics render AME both a technological and business breakthrough for a variety of organizations, including startups and other companies with the most demanding requirements around confidentiality and accelerated innovation, for example.Indeed, in these early days of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, additive manufacturing is already gaining broad recognition among engineers across multiple industries as no less than instrumental in meeting the exceptional requirements of integrating innovative technologies and electronic systems for Industry 4.0.
Multi-material AME Design Flowchart.Image courtesy of Yang Yang and Manos Tentzeris.Beyond Traditional, Subtractive Manufacturing Subtractive manufacturing has established itself over the decades and will continue to play a significant role in engineering for standard configurations.
Additive manufacturing, however, leads to entirely new types of architectures that were previously impossible to realize in a practical way.It is no surprise, then, that additive manufacturing is increasingly sought after for futuristic designs such as flexible hybrid electronics.It’s a disruptive mindset that unlocks the freedom of engineers to design electronic devices in truly 3D layouts.
Prototypes are built and fabrications are facilitated layer by layer.Once limited by printed boards or specific substrates, engineers leverage additive manufacturing to deposit electronics on literally any possible material (paper, plastic, wood, fabrics, etc.) Designers create structures by integrating multiple materials simultaneously without requiring post-processing.Yang Yang.
Image courtesy of the University of Technology Sydney.This makes the additive approach ideal for product-development goals such as device miniaturization and circuit customization.Powerful, tiny sensors for smart skins, digital twins, and precision agriculture—possibly even incorporating biodegradable materials—are just a few examples of the possibilities unlocked by additive manufacturing.
Subtractive techniques could result in untenable fabrication costs and misalignment issues for such devices (especially those requiring microscale fabrication tolerance); however, a single multi-material additive manufacturing machine can avoid complicated electronic device fabrication procedures.Additive manufacturing, furthermore, has the merits of print-on-demand (and, thereby, potentially zero material waste) and design customization for low-volume production.In this sense, additive manufacturing is also extremely environmentally friendly, which adds to its appeal in industries where eliminating waste is of growing importance for regulatory, competitive, ethical, or other reasons.
Innovation of Capabilities, Next Challenges to be Overcome Multi-material 3D printing has a lengthy development history of about 50 years, but it wasn’t until the early years of this century that 3D printing was first applied for prototyping electronic components.And in only the last two to three years have come: Dramatic, key improvements in printer capabilities (for example, in areas such as multifunction convergence and wireless modules) Proliferation in broadband applications (5G, 5G-plus, and 6G) Significant advancements in multi-material additive manufacturing and its electronic applications (from laboratory concepts to industrial products) The result of such innovation in capabilities is that today’s 3D printing reduces costs for fabricating devices operating at frequencies up to at least 150 GHz and also enables, for the first time, fully 3D fabrication (beyond the quasi-3D/2.5D using subtractive manufacturing).With technological improvements, the industry is applying 3D printing to build a tremendous range of practical things—from cube satellites to biomedical devices, for example.
4D printing is the latest innovation for additive manufacturing, enabling virtually unlimited reconfigurability states for product design.Customization takes place on the fly, and engineers are freed to experiment with concepts and designs that were not previously possible (hollow spheres, unique curves, very sparsely or densely graded materials, and other origami-influenced shapes).Plus, it’s clear that 4D printing will directly lead to greater application of artificial intelligence (AI) in industrial processes for AME.
In light of such factors, it can be said that 4D printing is where engineering meets art in the development of AME.Broad Application Horizon, Boundless Market Potential As a new technology, AME still faces several challenges that must be continuously addressed, representing future research directions across the disciplines of chemical and materials engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, and mechanical and mechatronics engineering.Conductive materials printing, multi-material integrated printing, material interface adhesion, printing resolution and precision, and software design tools are among the crucial areas for industry and academia to pursue research and development.
Manos Tentzeris.Image courtesy of the Georgia Institute of Technology.Nonetheless, engineers across an increasing number of industrial applications are already gravitating toward the additive manufacturing approach.
AME components will be extensively used in mobile applications, including personal healthcare, device-to-device communications, radar sensing for uncrewed vehicles, and intelligent transportation systems.Antenna arrays, energy harvesters, and radio frequency (RF) modules can be prototyped with virtually unlimited reconfigurability states.Coupled with AI and machine-learning algorithms, 4D printing could enable RF structures that can reconfigure themselves in real-time, even adjusting to changing ambient scenarios in a Transformers-like fashion.
Additive manufacturing is also fully compatible with disruptive technologies such as flexible hybrid electronics, massive MIMO (multiple input, multiple output), nanotechnology-enabled sensing, and heterogeneous integration and packaging.It could revolutionize sectors such as reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, large-area electronics, the Internet of Things (IoT), smart wearables and implantables, as well as smart manufacturing.The intensifying demand from all industrial sectors is expected to further drive the market at a considerable pace.
As an emerging innovative technology and production system, AME, leveraging multi-material 3D and 4D printing, is poised to utterly disrupt the value chain for electronics manufacturing.About the Authors: Emmanouil “Manos” M.Tentzeris is Ed and Pat Joy Chair Professor in Antennas at The Georgia Institute of Technology, and an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow.
Dr.Tentzeris is also the Head of the A.T.H.E.N.A.Research Group and has established academic programs in 3D/inkjet printed RF electronics and modules, origami and morphing electromagnetics, Highly Integrated/Multilayer Packaging for RF and Wireless Applications using ceramic and organic flexible materials, and nanostructures for RF, wireless sensors, power scavenging, and WPT.
Professor Manos is also a Guest Editor of the IEEE Proceedings Special Issue on Additively Manufactured Electronic Components in Multimaterial 3-D and 4-D Printing.Yang Yang is an Associate Professor, School of Electrical and Data Engineering at The University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, and a Senior Member of the IEEE.He researches emerging additive manufacturing technologies and radio frequency (RF) materials to advance 3D printed antennas and RF circuits and harness the power of 5G for the space sector.
Professor Yang is also a Guest Editor of the IEEE Proceedings Special Issue on Additively Manufactured Electronic Components in Multimaterial 3-D and 4-D Printing.Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.Print Services Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.
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