The Governing Council of the University of Toronto

Published purpose

Responsive or smart materials are the next generation materials that have been designed to respond to an external stimulus. A few examples of these responses include shape shifting, crack healing, energy releasing, and stiffness changing. Due to such property, smart materials have a board range of possible application areas. 3D printing (3DP), also known as additive manufacturing revolutionized the manufacturing industry as complex structures can now be fabricated more rapidly and at a lower cost. By integrating the shape shifting material with the 3DP process, a “4D printing” is created as the time domain is now included in the material. Previously, NRC and UofT explored the use of shape-morphing material and developed a smart surface motivated by a need for flow control in an aircraft application. This project will explore the possibility of 4D printing implementation of the smart materials in application of smart and responsive surfaces including aircraft wings, UAVs, and extending to large-scale actuation for soft robotics systems.