MAGNETIC FIELD-ASSISTED MANUFACTURING OF FUNCTIONAL POLYMERIC COMPOSITES

Shahriar Safaee

doi:10.7273/000003145

Magnetic polymeric composites have recently found their way into creating functional products that respond to an external stimulus while accomplishing complex tasks. A common manufacturing method for these materials is magnetic field-assisted manufacturing, where an external field is used during or after creating the product to induce local or global particle patterns or magnetization profiles. As one of the processes paired with magnetic field, additive manufacturing (AM) has shown great potential in developing complex structures with local control over material properties. In this work, using magneto-responsive reinforcing fibers and different polymeric matrices, we explore the potential of this process in creating functional polymeric composites and find applications for the resulting products. First, a design, manufacturing, and characterization framework for creating functional magnetic composites is developed. The potential of pairing magnetic field with AM in creating functionally graded polymeric composites with controlled local fiber orientation and concentration is studied. Composite materials fabricated and characterized to understand the relationships between process parameters, particle distribution, and local mechanical properties. Two simple characterization frameworks are developed to correlate the particle distribution and local properties of manufactured polymeric composites, and replace more expensive and complex methods. Next, two photocurable resin systems for the magnetic field-assisted AM are proposed and verified. Due to the molecular and capillary forces in bottom-up vat photopolymerization, it is challenging to control the particle distribution during the manufacturing process. Here we use surface treatment of magnetic particles to create temporary bonding between the particles and resin systems. Using this method enables a better control over particle distribution during the manufacturing process and prevents the particle aggregation. It is also proved that treated particles in resin systems can ensure more predictable curing behavior and better mechanical properties in the final photocured polymeric composites. Finally, we explore the potential magnetic field-assisted manufacturing in introducing desired magnetization profiles into polymeric composites. In this section, magnetoelastic structures are fabricated and studied to understand their behavior under dynamic magnetic fields. Using the proposed design for the magnetoelastic composites, untethered multimodal control over soft magnetic robots is achieved.

MAGNETIC FIELD-ASSISTED MANUFACTURING OF FUNCTIONAL POLYMERIC COMPOSITES

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