Publications
3D-printing Form and Function
Publication
MIT PhD Thesis
Authors
Subramanian Sundaram
Abstract
This thesis presents a set of materials, processes and design strategies - a full experimental toolkit - to address the question: how can we distribute diverse materials and functions in free-form geometries? First, a fully-3D-printed autonomous composite that can sense an external stimulus, process it, and respond by varying its optical transparency is described. The composite consists of seamlessly integrated solids (UV-cured polymers), thin-films (conducting and semiconducting, solvent-evaporated films), and encapsulated liquids. Techniques to engineer material interfaces are also presented in this section.