We appear to be in the beginning of a fabrication revolution with the enormous impact of Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies on “how we fabricate” and “what we fabricate”. AM has been affecting the freedom of shape that can be fabricated with many AM methods allowing very complex shapes to be produced from powder or liquid.
In 3D printing systems based on ink jet, liquid droplets of different materials are simultaneously deposited and solidified. This process allows for fabrication of objects comprised of multi materials, on both macroscopic level and microscopic level.
Currently the capabilities that made available by multi-material 3D printing are investigated and various combinations of parent materials in different “digital materials” structures are tested. It is believed that these new Digital Materials could grow to become a completely new form of composite materials and composite objects, promising a completely new degree of freedom to engineers and scientists.
