Communications of the ACM
Your Next Wooden Chair Could Arrive Flat, Then Dry into a 3D Shape
Wood "ink" printed as a flat rectangle is programmed to form this complex shape after drying and solidifying.
Credit: Doron Kam
Researchers at Israel's Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a process in which flat wooden shapes produced by three-dimensional (3D) printers can be programmed to transform into complex 3D shapes.
The researchers used a water-based “ink” comprised of wood-waste microparticles and plant-based binders in the printers; they found the pathway of the ink, print speed, and stacking of printed layers determined the final shape of the printed piece as its moisture content evaporates, and that these factors can be controlled to produce different shapes.
Said Eran Sharon, one of the project’s principal investigators, “We hope to show that under some conditions we can make these elements responsive—to humidity, for example—when we want to change the shape of an object again.”
From American Chemical Society
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