4D Printing: An Emerging Technology in Manufacturing?

Abstract

The paper highlights the possible technological evolution in the Lean manufacturing that concerns 4D Printing. To date there are not case studies of 4D printing application able to demonstrate the effective use of 4D Printing, and its results on the production cycles. The purpose of this article is to review the state of the art of the developments in four dimensional (4D) Printing, through a literature review, in order to define the 4D Printing characteristics, to examine its perspectives for the future application in manufacturing and to identify the potential benefits and manufacturing advantages.

A Comprehensive Review of 4D Printing: State of the Arts, Opportunities, and Challenges

“…Table 1 summarizes the benefits of adopting 4D printing technology to produce products; the benefits include savings in energy, materials, time, and money [20]. In addition, 4D printing technology is beneficial for reducing waste, errors, and product loss in manufacturing applications [21]. Different studies described the 4D printing process as energy-efficient [22], sustainable [23], and rapid [24] in comparison to other production processes.…”

“…This would contribute to the advancement of the global supply chain system. On the other hand, Ghi and Rossetti argued that 4D printing might be the next generation of lean manufacturing because of its potential to self-repair and self-assemble parts from materials [21].…”

New Trends in 4D Printing: A Critical Review

“…In addition to self-assembly and self-expansion abilities, self-repair is a key element. On the other hand, 4DP might be the next generation of lean manufacturing [193]. Further advancements can be provided by 5D printing [194,195] and 6D printing [196,197].…”

4D printing of shape memory polymers: Research status and application prospects

“…3D打印所加工出的物体是静止的, 无生命 的. 而4D打印在3D打印的基础上增加了时间的维度, 所得到的物体不再是静止的、无生命的, 其形态和结 构是随时间发生动态变化的 [20,21] . 在图2中, 4D打印的 一维绳状物在水环境的刺激下可自动折叠成复杂的 三维结构 [16] , 4D打印的三维花朵同样在水环境的刺…”