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Advanced Smart Materials for 3D/4D Printing: Mechanisms, Performance and Applications

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Smart Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 January 2026 | Viewed by 403

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Centre for Composite Materials and Structures, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
Interests: smart materials; shape-memory polymers; 4D printing

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Guest Editor
Department of Astronautical Science and Mechanics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Interests: 4D printing; smart material mechanics; smart structural design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Astronautical Science and Mechanics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Interests: shape memory polymers; 4D printing; multifunctional metamaterials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

4D printing technology, which is based on 3D printing, adds an additional temporal dimension to the process and can be realized through the integration of 3D printing techniques with smart materials. In contrast to the static structures fabricated via traditional 3D printing, 4D printed structures exhibit an ability to adaptively modify their performance or functionality over time in response to external stimuli such as heat, light, electricity, and magnetism. Smart materials have attracted much attention in fields such as aerospace, biomedicine, etc., due to their potential for active deformation and adaptive deployment. We encourage the submission of original manuscripts covering, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • Functional smart materials;
  • The fabrication of smart materials;
  • Research on the mechanisms and performance of smart materials;
  • 3D/4D printing;
  • Research on the application of smart materials.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Cheng Lin
Prof. Dr. Liwu Liu
Dr. XiaoZhou Xin
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • 3D/4D printing
  • smart materials
  • shape-memory polymers
  • metamaterials
  • smart structural design

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 7778 KB  
Article
Possibilities of Using 3D Printing with Polymers as Structural Components
by Marcin Artur Kwapisz, Piotr Paszta and Wiktor Lacki
Materials 2025, 18(23), 5384; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18235384 - 28 Nov 2025
Viewed by 214
Abstract
This article investigates the potential of using polymer-based Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) 3D printing to manufacture structural components. This study aimed to explore the application of this technology within manufacturing processes. This research focused on material analysis, using a gear wheel from a [...] Read more.
This article investigates the potential of using polymer-based Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) 3D printing to manufacture structural components. This study aimed to explore the application of this technology within manufacturing processes. This research focused on material analysis, using a gear wheel from a lawn mower’s drive system as a case study. To achieve the purpose of this study, a reverse engineering process was carried out to create 2D and 3D documentation based on a physical piece. The geometric model created in the CAD environment was optimized for volume. It was intended to keep the material expenditure unchanged, which is intensified during the 3D printing process due to the need to apply an adhesive layer and supports. The final design process of the geometric model of the prototype was subjected to numerical analyses in terms of total deformation and reduced stresses for materials commonly used as filaments in the FDM/FFF 3D printing technology. The basic filaments PLA, ABS, and PA6 and PA12 were analyzed in this study. The results of the analyses showed that two of the four selected filaments had to be rejected due to significant deterioration in strength properties. Finally, the prototype workpieces were printed using materials approved for the manufacturing process. Full article
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