Parametric chemistry reverse engineering biomaterial composites for additive manufacturing of bio-cement structures across scales

Abstract

Motivated by the need to develop novel renewable and biocompatible composites for complex macro-scale structures, and inspired by natural shell, insect cuticles, and plant cell walls, we have developed a multi-material, robotic 3D printing platform and associated computational techniques that leverage the concepts of parametric chemistry and tunable hierarchical structuring for the additive manufacturing of hierarchical biomaterials, in meter-scale forms, with complex geometries. To do so, we have designed and engineered a bio-cement composite using natural and abundant polymers such as chitosan and cellulose. After assessing the chemical, mechanical, and optical properties of this prototypical bio-composite, we utilized these results as inputs to modulate our computational design and robotic fabrication platforms. Doing so has taken us closer to our goal of true Fabrication Information Modelling (FIM), which integrates atomistic material properties to inform large-scale digital fabrication.