3D Printing Composite with Microcapsules for On-Demand Lubrication

The lubricating material near the friction area plays a crucial role for many friction components. In this study, utilizing the advantages of 3D printing layer-by-layer accumulation, a lubricating layer containing microcapsules was constructed on the surface of the matrix to achieve active lubrication on-demand. It was found that using on-demand lubrication printing scheme allowed equal amounts of microcapsules to provide superior lubrication compared to integral lubrication. The coefficient of friction (COF) of the composites with on-demand lubrication was reduced to 0.08, with a decrease of 89.6%, compared to the uniform distribution of the conventional lubricant, with no significant reduction in the compressive strength and a reduction in the wear rate by two orders of magnitude; The on-demand lubricated composite has a friction coefficient as low as 0.057 and a compressive strength of about 160 MPa when destroyed. It was demonstrated that the part containing microcapsules on the surface acted as a lubricant, and the part without microcapsules acted as load-bearing. Therefore, the composite material had good mechanical properties and excellent self-lubricating ability. This study pioneered the application of microcapsules in light-curing 3D printing, compared the effects of various printing schemes and different additions of microcapsules added into the photosensitive resins, and provided ideas for the preparation of friction parts with better overall performance.