Recent advances in multi-material additive manufacturing: methods and applications

Abstract

Multi-material additive manufacturing (MMAM) enables rapid design and direct fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) objects consisting of multiple materials without the need for complex manufacturing process and expensive tooling. Through concurrent integration of multiple materials having their own unique properties, MMAM allows for facile production of multi-functional devices and systems. Various MMAM techniques have recently been developed and a wide range of new applications have been demonstrated using MMAM. This paper reviews recent advances in MMAM methods and key applications enabled by MMAM in three areas; biomedical engineering, soft robotics, and electronics.