Additive Manufacturing of Ceramic Multi-functional Structures

3D printing has been historically relegated to fabricating conceptual models and prototypes; however, increasingly, research is now focusing on fabricating functional end-use products. As patents for 3D printing expire, new low-cost desktop systems are being adopted more widely and this trend is leading to a diversity of new products, processes and available materials. However, currently the technology is generally confined to fabricating single material static structures. For additively manufactured products to be economically meaningful, additional functionalities are required to be incorporated in terms of electronic, electromechanical, electromagnetic, thermodynamic, chemical and optical content. By interrupting the 3D printing and employing complementary manufacturing processes, additional functional content can be included in mass-customized structures. This presentation will review work in multi-process 3D printing for creating structures with consumer-anatomy-specific wearable electronics, electromechanical actuation, electromagnetics in ceramic structures.