M.I.T - Self-Assembly Lab: Rapid Liquid Printing and other projects

Objects that are formed by multi-material 3-D printing but designed to transform over time, whether that transformation is activated by mechanical stress, water absorption, light exposure, or some other mechanism. One method to create adaptable materials is by pairing two different materials that expand or contract at different rates. The common theme across different projects is Tibbits' belief that the future of industrial production lies in the transformative power of harnessing smart, programmable materials.

The Self-Assembly Lab worked with Steelcase to develop a process for 3-D printing plastic into liquid for furniture parts, called rapid liquid printing. This process prints within a gel bath to provide support for the printed parts and minimize the effect of gravity. With this printing technique they can print centimeter- to meter-scale parts in minutes to hours with a range of high-quality industrial materials like silicone rubber, polyurethane, and acrylics.



Other Projects...

• Developed a method to 3-D-print liquid metal into powder that creates fully formed parts that can be lifted out of the powder. The parts are made of a material that can be re-melted to form new parts. 
• Working with BMW,  designed silicone cushion clusters that are 3-D-printed in liquid and can be inflated cell by cell, thus changing their overall shape, stiffness, or movement. This material could be the basis for more comfortable seating that adjusts to individual passengers.
• Is conducting active textile research in collaboration with Ministry of Supply, fiber extrusion specialty firm Hills Inc., the University of Maine, and Iowa State University. So far, the group has produced sweater yarns that can be heated to conform to an individual wearer's body shape, with a long-term goal of producing climate-adaptive textiles. This work is partly funded by Advanced Functional Fabrics of America, and that portion of the research is administered through the Materials Research Laboratory.
• Using carbon-based materials in a project for Airbus, developed thin blades that can fold and curl by themselves to control the airflow to the engine. The "programmable" carbon work was carried out with Carbitex LLC, Autodesk, and MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms.
• For a chair project with Biesse and Wood-Skin,  designed a small table that marries 3-D-printed wood fiber panels and pre-stressed textiles. The table can be shipped flat, then jump into several different arrangements because of the flexibility of the textile.
• By 3-D-printing a stiffer material in a circular pattern onto a flat mesh, for example, the researchers showed that cutting out the circle from the flat plane causes it to snap into a hyperbolic parabola shape. The researchers include MIT computer science Professor Erik Demaine; Christophe Guberan, a visiting product designer from Switzerland; and David Costanza MA '13, SM '15.