Multi-scale 3D printing of bioinspired structures with functional surfaces

Nature provides inspirations of creative multi-functional materials and structures. However, biological systems are usually composed of materials and structures in multi-scales with high geometry complexity, which brings challenges to bioinspired design and fabrication. Additive manufacturing (AM) presents a potential solution due to its capability of creating three-dimensional (3D) objects with freeform surface and multi-materials. The aim of this research is to investigate the fabrication of multi-scale biomimetic structures using the integrated photo-polymerization based 3D printing processes. We firstly introduced the macro- and meso-scale mask image projection based stereolithography (MIP-SL). We then present the micro-scale immersive surface accumulation (ISA) printing. Based on them, a multi-scale 3D printing method by integrating the ISA and MIP-SLA processes is presented. To achieve high-resolution fabrication, the process planning, the material curing performance, and the printing parameters are discussed. Two test cases are presented to demonstrate its fabrication capability. The experimental results verify the accuracy and efficiency of the developed multi-scale 3D printing method on the fabrication of bioinspired structures with functional surfaces.