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Print or Perish

ORAL

Abstract

How small can embedded 3D printing go? Extruded filaments perish due to capillary breakup, but a suspending bath material with a yield stress can resist this failure and enable printing…to a point. Here we experimentally identify the stability criteria that sets the minimum diameter of a Newtonian liquid filament embedded into a viscoplastic yield stress fluid [1], and then beat this limit with a new technique that we call embedded 3D printing by solvent exchange (3DPX) [2].

[1] Hossain et al. Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics (2025) DOI: 10.1016/j.jnnfm.2025.105440

[2] Eom et al. Nature Communications (2025) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-55972-1

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Publication: 1. Hossain M. T., W. Eom, A. Shah, A. Lowe, D. Fudge, S. H. Tawfick, and R. H. Ewoldt,<br>"The critical plastocapillary number for a Newtonian liquid filament embedded into<br>a viscoplastic fluid,"<br>Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics, 343, 105440 (2025).<br>2. Eom, W., M. T. Hossain, V. Parasramka, J. Kim, R. W. Y. Siu, K. A. Sanders, D. Piorkowski, A. Lowe, H. G. Koh, M. F. L. De Volder, D. S. Fudge, R. H. Ewoldt and S. H. Tawfick,<br>"Fast 3D printing of fine, continuous, and soft fibers via embedded solvent exchange,"<br>Nature Communications, 16, 842 (2025).

Presenters

  • Randy H Ewoldt

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Authors

  • Tanver Hossain

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  • Wonsik Eom

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  • Douglas Fudge

    Chapman University

  • Sameh H Tawfick

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  • Randy H Ewoldt

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign