MORE | Spring 2020

Automated Design of Graded Material Transitions for Educational Robotics Applications

This project is studying the impact that graded material transitions have on the performance of multi-material components. The researchers have generated a set of tensile test samples that represent multiple approaches to creating graded material transitions. These samples were produced using multi-material 3D printing and tested to determine the effect that each transition type has on tensile strength and elasticity. Several transition types were found to provide significant improvements in tensile strength. Current work is investigating how the elasticity of the samples can be controlled and how the best performing transition types can be produced on low-cost prototyping equipment.