Virtual and physical prototyping robot-assisted multi-axis embedded silicone printing for free-form volumetric model robot-assisted multi-axis embedded silicone printing for free-form volumetric model

Sun, H, Tian, Y, Xu, C, Bodaghi, M ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0707-944X, Gao, F and Fang, G, 2026. Virtual and physical prototyping robot-assisted multi-axis embedded silicone printing for free-form volumetric model robot-assisted multi-axis embedded silicone printing for free-form volumetric model. Virtual and Physical Prototyping, 21 (1): e2614811. ISSN 1745-2759

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Abstract

Embedded silicone printing (ESP) enables the creation of complex soft structures by extruding silicone inks into a gel support matrix. However, issues such as excess local ink deposition and the staircase effect limit the quality of solid model prints, especially when the gel matrix is immiscible with silicone ink. This work presents a multi-axis ESP framework for fabricating volumetric silicone models with nearly solid infill and high surface quality. A field-based curved slicing strategy is introduced to preserve critical surface features and optimise layer height distribution, reducing height variation and ensuring model manufacturability. A boundary-conformal staggered toolpath algorithm further promotes uniform ink deposition, while adaptive toolpath width adjustment mitigates local overfilling and underfilling during curved printing. The framework is validated on a multi-axis robotic platform by fabricating wearable components, biomedical phantoms, and soft robotic structures. Characterization via surface scanning and X-ray CT confirms an infill ratio of 99.47% and a surface error below 1.5 mm (1% of the model size). The proposed framework greatly broadens the practical applications of ESP, enabling the fabrication of customised and functionally integrated soft devices. ARTICLE HISTORY

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Virtual and Physical Prototyping
Creators:	Sun, H., Tian, Y., Xu, C., Bodaghi, M., Gao, F. and Fang, G.
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Date:	January 2026
Volume:	21
Number:	1
ISSN:	1745-2759
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1080/17452759.2026.2614811 DOI 2560519 Other
Rights:	© 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. You are not required to obtain permission to reuse this article in part or whole.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Jeremy Silvester
Date Added:	23 Jan 2026 10:12
Last Modified:	23 Jan 2026 10:12
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55099

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