Multimaterial Additive Manufacturing with Subvoxel Control: Making & Measuring Architected Materials Systems

Abstract: Multimaterial additive manufacturing (AM) has enabled generation of multifunctional and functionally graded materials systems with enhanced properties and performance. Direct ink writing (DIW), an extrusion-based AM method, is uniquely suited to printing a broad range of inks in filamentary form factors with programmable internal features. Programming of features smaller than the extruded filament diameter can be referred to as “subvoxel control”, where a “voxel” represents a volume element along the filament’s major axis. Subvoxel control offers new avenues for scalably generating hierarchically architected materials systems with enhanced functionality and performance. This talk will highlight recent developments in multimaterial DIW with subvoxel control, including applications in soft robotics, structural materials and biomaterials. Continued advancement of DIW with subvoxel control requires development of the fundamental processing science relating ink properties, multimaterial extrusion, subvoxelated architecture, and ultimately, emergent (multi-) functionality. To illustrate opportunities in this space, this talk will also share case studies in composite and multimaterial manufacturing that motivate the development of in-operando imaging methods for real-time measurement and quality control.

Bio: Natalie M. Larson is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and, by courtesy, Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University. She is a Terman Faculty Fellow and a Gabilan Faculty Fellow. She received her BS degree from the University of Washington in 2013 and her PhD degree from the University of California Santa Barbara in 2018. From 2019-2023, she was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University. She has received numerous awards and honors including the MRS Bulletin Postdoctoral Publication Prize, the Advanced Light Source Doctoral Fellowship in Residence, and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.