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Your Next Wooden Chair could Arrive Flat, then Dry into a 3D Shape

A piece of wood twisted into a helix, placed in front of a ruler that indicates it's about 8cm long
Wood ink printed as a flat rectangle is programmed to form a complex shape after drying and solidifying. (Ruler is marked in centimeters.)
Image credit: Doron Kam

Wooden objects are usually made by sawing, carving, bending or pressing. That’s so old school! Today, scientists will describe how flat wooden shapes extruded by a 3D printer can be programmed to self-morph into complex 3D shapes. In the future, this technique could be used to make furniture or other wooden products that could be shipped flat to a destination and then dried to form the desired final shape.

The researchers will present their results at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

In nature, plants and some animals can alter their own shapes or textures...

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