Manufacturing Complex Structures Through Interfacial Self-Organization
Abstract
Conventional manufacturing constructs three-dimensional geometries through localized material deposition, removal, or shaping, with fabrication effort greatly increasing with geometric complexity. Here, we introduce a manufacturing approach in which target geometry is encoded into sparse wireframe scaffolds that guide liquid self-organization through interfacial forces. We apply a computational framework that approximates arbitrary target geometries using constant-mean-curvature surface domains and extracts their boundaries to construct the scaffolds. Under neutral buoyancy conditions, curable liquids injected into these scaffolds self-organize into the prescribed geometries, which are subsequently solidified into mechanically isotropic structures with optically smooth surfaces. We demonstrate the fabrication of complex anatomical models and topology-optimized structures featuring intricate branching geometries, internal cavities, and integrated materials. This approach opens new possibilities for scalable fabrication of complex geometric designs.
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BibTeX
@misc{garrett2026manufacturing,
title = {{Manufacturing Complex Structures Through Interfacial Self-Organization}},
author = {Jacob Garrett and Abhinit Sati and Edward Chien and Emily Whiting and Valeri Frumkin},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.09950},
eprint = {2611.09950},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.09950},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Manufacturing Complex Structures Through Interfacial Self-Organization
AU - Jacob Garrett
AU - Abhinit Sati
AU - Edward Chien
AU - Emily Whiting
AU - Valeri Frumkin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.09950
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.09950
AB - Conventional manufacturing constructs three-dimensional geometries through localized material deposition, removal, or shaping, with fabrication effort greatly increasing with geometric complexity. Here, we introduce a manufacturing approach in which target geometry is encoded into sparse wireframe scaffolds that guide liquid self-organization through interfacial forces. We apply a computational framework that approximates arbitrary target geometries using constant-mean-curvature surface domains and extracts their boundaries to construct the scaffolds. Under neutral buoyancy conditions, curable liquids injected into these scaffolds self-organize into the prescribed geometries, which are subsequently solidified into mechanically isotropic structures with optically smooth surfaces. We demonstrate the fabrication of complex anatomical models and topology-optimized structures featuring intricate branching geometries, internal cavities, and integrated materials. This approach opens new possibilities for scalable fabrication of complex geometric designs.
ER -