Integrated Design, Additive Manufacturing, and Mechanoresponsive Materials

Abstract

The long-term goal of our research team is to fully integrate mechanochemical reactivity, microstructure design, and additive manufacturing (AM) to enable access to advanced systems that are rapidly customizable, adaptive, and responsive (Figure 1) proposed Additively-Manufactured Microstructured Mechanoresponsive Materials (AM4s) require understanding and control of mechanical transduction across multiple length scales, from molecular to macroscopic. To reach this goal, we will first establish approaches for the production of mechanoresponsive materials using AM, and determine how variations in AM techniques influence mechanophore activity in the resulting materials (Research Area 1). This will enable us to design, implement, and evaluate different microstructured object geometries that are capable of focusing mechanical forces to specific regions where concentrated stress and strain can activate mechanophores (Research Area 2). With successful AM technologies and object designs capable of mechanophore activation, we will then incorporate and evaluate mechanophores that are able to modify the mechanical properties of the bulk materials upon activation (Research Area 3). Additionally, we will plan iterative, adaptive feedback loop for guided optimization via AM (Research Area 4).

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Oct 11, 2018
Source ID
W911NF1710595

Entities

People

  • Andrew J. Boydston

Organizations

  • Army Contracting Command
  • United States Army
  • University of Washington

Tags

Readers

  • Nanocomposite Materials Science
  • Research Science/Academic Research
  • Software Engineering