Simulation of 4D Printing of a Thermally Sensitive Memory Material

3D printing has advanced into 4D printing in recent years. 4D printing was made possible by combining different disciplines of science and exploring 3D printing capabilities. It comprises of a single material or multi material printing of a single object into a pre-programmed (stimuli based) 3D shape. The stimuli which trigger the 3D object to change its shape is the 4th dimension and hence the name 4D printing. The factors affecting the stimuli generally are heating, lighting, magnetism, humidity etc. 4D-printed objects provide a basis for revolutionary technological advancements in the field of aerospace actuation, robotics, medicine, architecture, and other fields of engineering. This paper reports one such case of 4D printing for which simulation studies have been carried out to understand the behavior of the memory material. The memory material under consideration is a thermally sensitive material which has a programmable shape based on temperature variation. The simulation is focused to establish the influencing parameters in 4D printing such as form design functional design material selection and activation methods. This work also refers to identify further research areas to expand this methodology applicable to various materials and stimuli.