Optimal Design Exploiting 3D Printing and Metamaterials

The key theme of this book is an exploration of how recent advances across three related scientific fields are intertwined - the developments in metamaterials, the automated optimal design of innovative electronic, electromagnetic and mechatronic devices, and 3D printing.

Developments in the field of automated optimal design have enabled the design of innovative electronic, electromagnetic and mechatronic devices, but there is a risk that design uncertainties and fabrication tolerances dictated by conventional manufacturing techniques will limit the practical synthesis and industrial realisation of these novel designs. The solution might be found in new manufacturing possibilities offered by 3D printing technologies and techniques for the fabrication of conductive layers in low and high frequency applications.

The book approaches the topic from several perspectives, including the design of 3D fields, advances in shape synthesis, the role of additive manufacturing in synthesising metamaterials and manipulating ferromagnetic materials, and the steps from numerical models to printed mechatronic devices. A final chapter discusses design challenges and opportunities in industrial settings.

Led by two expert editors, with contributions from authors with a range of backgrounds across academia and industrial research, this book provides key information for researchers, advanced students and industry professionals in advanced manufacturing, mechatronics, and electrical and electronic engineering.

Paolo Di Barba DSc, PhD, is a full professor of electrical engineering at the University of Pavia, Italy. His scientific interests focus on the analysis and synthesis of fields, with emphasis on evolutionary optimisation algorithms for solving inverse problems. In particular, he substantially contributed to importing the theory of Pareto optimality from microeconomics and developing it in computational electromagnetics. He is author of more than 200 papers, published in international journals, and three books.

Sławomir Wiak DSc, PhD, MEng, Multi DHC is a professor in and the director of the Institute of Mechatronics and Information Systems, Łódź University of Technology, Poland. His scientific interests focus on numerical methods, expert systems, e-learning systems, MEMS, mechatronic systems, and engineering software. He is the author or co-author of over 400 publications, including 19 monographs and textbooks, and member of 17 international steering committees and 11 advisory boards.