Wooden furniture of the future will ship flat and dry into shape

Today’s Video of the Day from the American Chemical Society describes how flat wooden shapes designed with a 3D printer can dry into complex shapes. The technology, which is being developed by scientists at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, may ultimately be used to make wooden furniture that ships flat and then dries into its desired shape once it has reached its destination.

“Warping can be an obstacle, but we thought we could try to understand this phenomenon and harness it into a desirable morphing,” explained Doron Kam, a graduate student who is presenting the work at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS Fall 2022). 

Dr. Eran Sharon, one of the principal investigators, noted that artificial structures can’t typically shape themselves. But in recent years, experts have begun printing flat sheets that could form into 3D shapes after a stimulus, such as a change in temperature, pH or moisture content, explained Dr. Sharon.

While these self-morphing sheets were made from synthetic materials, such as gels and elastomers, Dr. Sharon said his team wanted to go back to the origin of this concept – to nature – and do it with wood.

Video Credit: American Chemical Society 

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer