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Despite almost limitless possibilities of rapid prototyping, the idea of 3D printed fully functional electronic device still has not been fulfilled – the missing point is a highly conductive material suitable for this technique. The purpose of this paper is to present the usage of the photonic curing process for sintering highly conductive paths printed on the polymer substrate.

This paper evaluates two photonic curing processes for the conductive network formulation during the additive manufacturing process. Along with the xenon flash sintering for aerosol jet-printed paths, this paper examines rapid infrared sintering for thick-film and direct write techniques.

This paper proves that the combination of fused deposition modeling, aerosol jet printing or paste deposition, along with photonic sintering, is suitable to obtain elements with low resistivity of 3,75·10⁻⁸ Ωm. Presented outcomes suggest the solution for fabrication of the structural electronics systems for daily-use applications.

The combination of fused deposition modelling (FDM) and aerosol jet printing or paste deposition used with photonic sintering process can fill the missing point for highly conductive materials for structural electronics.

This study aims to examine on-site particle concentration levels due to emissions from a wide spectrum of additive manufacturing techniques, including polymer-based material extrusion, metal and polymer-based powder bed fusion, directed energy deposition and ink-based material jetting.

Particle concentrations in the operating environments of users were measured using a combination of particle sizers including the TSI 3910 Nano SMPS (10–420 nm) and the TSI 3330 optical particle sizer (0.3–10 µm). Also, fumes from a MEX printer during printing were directly captured using laser imaging method.

The number and mass concentration of submicron particles emitted from a desktop open-type MEX printer for acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and polyvinyl alcohol approached and significantly exceeded the nanoparticle reference limits, respectively. Through laser imaging, fumes were observed to originate from the printer nozzle and from newly deposited layers of the desktop MEX printer. On the other hand, caution should be taken in the pre-processing of metal and polymer powder. Specifically, one to ten micrometers of particles were observed during the sieving, loading and cleaning of powder, with transient mass concentrations ranging between 150 and 9,000 µg/m³ that significantly exceeded the threshold level suggested for indoor air quality.

Preliminary investigation into possible exposures to particle emissions from different 3D printing processes was done, which is useful for the sustainable development of the 3D printing industry. In addition, automatic processes that enable “closed powder cycle” or “powder free handling” should be adopted to prevent users from unnecessary particle exposure.

Soft robotics is currently a rapidly growing new field of robotics whereby the robots are fundamentally soft and elastically deformable. Fabrication of soft robots is currently challenging and highly time- and labor-intensive. Recent advancements in three-dimensional (3D) printing of soft materials and multi-materials have become the key to enable direct manufacturing of soft robots with sophisticated designs and functions. Hence, this paper aims to review the current 3D printing processes and materials for soft robotics applications, as well as the potentials of 3D printing technologies on 3D printed soft robotics.

The paper reviews the polymer 3D printing techniques and materials that have been used for the development of soft robotics. Current challenges to adopting 3D printing for soft robotics are also discussed. Next, the potentials of 3D printing technologies and the future outlooks of 3D printed soft robotics are presented.

This paper reviews five different 3D printing techniques and commonly used materials. The advantages and disadvantages of each technique for the soft robotic application are evaluated. The typical designs and geometries used by each technique are also summarized. There is an increasing trend of printing shape memory polymers, as well as multiple materials simultaneously using direct ink writing and material jetting techniques to produce robotics with varying stiffness values that range from intrinsically soft and highly compliant to rigid polymers. Although the recent work is done is still limited to experimentation and prototyping of 3D printed soft robotics, additive manufacturing could ultimately be used for the end-use and production of soft robotics.

The paper provides the current trend of how 3D printing techniques and materials are used particularly in the soft robotics application. The potentials of 3D printing technology on the soft robotic applications and the future outlooks of 3D printed soft robotics are also presented.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of integrating inkjet printed circuitry with fused deposition modeling (FDM) structures to produce embedded electronics and smart structures. Several of the challenges of combining these technologies are identified, and potential solutions are developed.

An experimental approach is taken to investigate some of the relevant physical processes for integrating FDM and inkjet deposition, including the printing, drying and sintering processes. Experimental data are collected to assist understanding of the problems, and engineering solutions are proposed and implemented based on the gained understanding of the problems.

Three challenges have been identified, including the discontinuity of the printed lines resulting from the irregular surface of the FDM substrate, the non-conductivity of the printed lines due to the particle segregation during the droplet drying process and the slow drying process caused by the “skinning effect”. Two engineering solutions are developed for the discontinuity problem. The non-conductivity issue and the slow drying process are attributed to the motion of the nanoparticles caused by the evaporation flow. The thermally activated drying process for the Cabot ink suggests that the proposed solution is effective. Timescale analysis and experimental data show that the printing conditions do not have a clear influence on the conductivity of the printed lines, and drying and sintering processes are more important.

No quantitative model has yet been developed for simulating the printing, drying and sintering processes associated with inkjet printing on FDM substrates. Quantitative models can be extremely valuable for improvement in understanding the problems, optimizing the proposed solutions and coming up with better solutions.

The research findings in this work have great implications in implementing a hybrid FDM-inkjet deposition machine for fabricating embedded electronics and smart structures. All the proposed engineering solutions for the identified problems can be potentially integrated into one machine.

The success of the integration of the FDM and inkjet deposition process will enable the design of compact electro-mechanical structures to replace the large heavy electro-mechanical systems.

This work represents one of the first attempts for integrating inkjet deposition of silver nanoparticle inks with the FDM process for making compact electro-mechanical structures. Three critical challenges are identified, and corresponding engineering solutions are proposed and implemented based on analysis of the relevant physical processes, including the printing, drying and sintering processes, which has laid the foundation for integrating the FDM and inkjet deposition processes.

This study aims to provide a technical insight into sensors fabricated by three-dimensional (3D) printing methods.

Following an introduction to 3D printing, this article first discusses printed sensors for strain and allied variables, based on a diverse range of principles and materials. It then considers ultrasonic and acoustic sensor developments and provides details of a sensor based on 3D printed electronic components for monitoring food quality in real-time. Finally, brief concluding comments are drawn.

Several variants of the 3D printing technique have been used in the fabrication of a range of sensors based on many different operating principles. These exhibit good performance and sometimes unique characteristics. A key benefit is the ability to overcome the limitations of conventional manufacturing techniques by creating complex shapes from a wide range of sensing materials.

3D printing is a new and potentially important sensor fabrication technology, and this article provides details of a range of recently reported developments.