<p>The emergence of smart materials coupled with additive manufacturing technology has provided competitive advantages over traditional manufacturing systems in terms of manufacturing flexibility, product functionality, and the ability to switch between two different phases under given external stimuli. While the fabricability of shape memory materials has been widely explored in stereolithography systems, the material characterization process is mainly considered to be independent of the printing process. More specifically, the impacts of the critical parameters on the shape memory performance are not well investigated in the current literature, especially, a lack of information is reported on how the printing parameters affect the shape fixity and free recovery of the printed parts. Therefore, this work is dedicated to experimentally investigating the influences of parameters from both the stereolithography printing process and thermomechanical process (i.e., shape programming and free recovery) on the shape memory properties. Five parameters including layer thickness, scan speed, maximum programmed angle, hold time, and recovery time, were experimentally analyzed for their impacts on the shape fixity and recovery. The results of this study show that the printing process parameters are the key drivers that affect shape memory performance which are even more significant than parameters involved in shape memory cycles, such as hold time and maximum programmed angle. A variation of 14.33% on the free recovery ratio can be observed when the scan speed is changed.</p>

Impacts of Process Parameters on Shape Memory Properties of Stereolithography Manufactured Parts: An Experimental Analysis

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/MSEC/MSEC2021/volume/85062

2021 International Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (MSEC2021)

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