Approach to a Design Guideline Regarding the Interaction of Shape Memory Alloys and Fused Deposition Modeling

The combination of Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) and Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is promising regarding individual and innovative products with controllable properties. The focus is on the intelligent integration of SMAs in FDM-manufactured parts or products. The objective is to establish a basis for a guideline regarding the interaction of SMAs and FDM. Therefore, important parameters of the combination of SMAs and FDM were derived using a basic classification of integration, which was identified, described and clustered. Using those findings, prototypes comprising flexible structures were designed, manufactured and analyzed in order to evaluate the established parameters and gather practical experiences.