The advantages of utilizing the polymeric shape memory effect for deterministic assembly of microscale objects are explored in this letter. The assembly is performed by transfer printing, which involves a polymeric stamp with reversible adhesion as a manipulator. The dynamic rigidity control afforded by heating or cooling a shape memory polymer (SMP) stamp across its glass transition temperature allows for a dramatic increase in adhesion during pick-up. Furthermore, the shapefixing and recovery property of the SMP material enables substantial freedom in stamp design, such as more complex surface patterning and heterogeneous surface features to further reduce adhesion during release not otherwise available.[2014-0158]
A root canal surgery involves the successive use of several tools one after another. Typically dozens of tools are laid out for possible use, and the process of tool selection is done manually. This is a rather inefficient process and uses up a large area on the mobile cart or cabinet of the dental chair due to the large number of tools. In this article, a novel 'tool vending machine' is introduced which will be capable of solving those problems and at the same time move a step closer to robot-assisted dental surgery. The tool vending machine was designed considering the needs of the dentists and also from the perspective of the entire product life cycle. For these reasons the design process was implemented using a rigorous analysis of effective manufacturing processes and product quality. To show the feasibility of using such a machine in improving work efficiency during operations, a study of the associated motion patterns and the required time increments were demonstrated.
Microtransfer printing is rapidly emerging as an effective method for heterogeneous materials integration. Laser microtransfer printing (LMTP) is a noncontact variant of the process that uses laser heating to drive the release of the microstructure from the stamp. This makes the process independent of the properties or preparation of the receiving substrate. In this paper, an extensive study is conducted to investigate the capability of the LMTP process. Furthermore, a thermomechanical finite element model (FEM) is developed, using the experimentally observed delamination times and absorbed powers, to estimate the delamination temperatures at the interface, as well as the strain, displacement, and thermal gradient fields.
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