SUMMARY
Photopolymerization is a widely used polymerization method in many engineering applications such as coating, dental restoration, and 3D printing. It is a complex chemical and physical process, through which a liquid monomer solution is rapidly converted to a solid polymer. During this process, the material properties of cured polymer also change dramatically. Free-radical photopolymerization reaction kinetics and material property evolution during the curing process are investigated by experiments and theoretical modeling. The model can be applied to investigate the internal stress of a thick sample caused by the volume shrinkage during photopolymerization. The photopolymerization during 3D printing process will be investigated using theoretical model and experiments. The distortion due to reaction volume shrinkage during printing process will be modeled. In addition, the desolvation based 4D printing will be studied using experiments and FEM simulations.