Industrial Digitalization with Four Dimensional (4D) Printing-Novel Technology: Brief Review on Developments, Challenges and Applications

Abstract

The latest advances in additive manufacturing methods (AMM) generally called as three-dimensional (3D) printing permitted to design and generate complicated profiles which are not possible with regular fabrication methods. A branch of new fabrication technique initiated from three dimensional (3D) printing further it is called as four dimensional (4D) printing with self healing materials that can react to outer stimuli by subjecting external pressure on it. Also, day to day advancements in fashion in the lifestyle of public, industries are not capable to satisfy their requirements with conventional manufacturing techniques with conventional materials because of increased cost to alter the design, manufacture and process layout for each fashion style. It is impossible to satisfy with conventional materials as well as processing methods, so more competition existed in the present industrial sectors according to market demands as per customer requirements. Advancements in additive manufacturing techniques covered this gap by day-to-day developments in materials and their methods, provide a variety of designs and fabricate them with a short time by sustaining less investment. In this article, recent developments of smart materials discussed and innovations in 4D printing and challenges which are faced in the research and development divisions also described about a variety of application areas almost in all fields. This paper provides basic information data to the young researchers who are interested to do their work in this area and also discussed with the latest available data pertaining to 4D printing globally.