4D Printing is a digital manufacturing technology that produces objects in the same three-dimensional space as the 3D Printer, the difference is in the addition of the fourth dimension: a temporal dimension so that the modeling does not cease when the object leaves the printer, but rather continue in response to the environment.
Active materials, such as SMPs (shape memory polymers, materials that return from a deformed state to their original shape), can be printed to create an active microstructure within a solid. After printing with these materials, they can be activated in a controlled manner to change their structure or configuration in response to a stimulus from the environment.
The inspiration for the new method came from how plants transform over time from external stimuli such as sunlight, temperature and humidity. In recent studies, raw materials have been used that are able to move in only one direction and that react only to water. The researchers say that other materials that react to other elements such as sunlight, vibrations, sound and heat, can be inserted.
The concept of 4D printing was presented by MIT professor Skylar Tibbits at a TED conference in 2013. The creator and coordinator of the project, summarized his talk by saying:
“What does this tell us about the future? I think you are saying that there are new possibilities for self-assembly, replication in repair in our physical structures, our buildings, machines. Imagine if our buildings, bridges, machines, all of our bricks could really switch? ”