Design, Kinematics, and Application of Axially and Radially Expandable Modular Soft Pneumatic Actuators

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Nianfeng Wang ◽  
Bicheng Chen ◽  
Xiandong Ge ◽  
Xianmin Zhang ◽  
Wei Chen

Abstract Recently, soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) have drawn increasing attention due to their ease of fabrication, high customizability and innately softness. Inspired by modular design, two kinds of SPAs including an axial elongation soft pneumatic actuator (aeSPA) and a radial expansion soft pneumatic actuator (reSPA) are proposed in this paper, followed by their modeling, fabrication, and application in locomotion robots. The relationships between pressure and displacement of these SPAs are deduced based on the Yeoh model and the principle of virtual work, which has a good agreement with experimental results. Five modular worm-like crawling robots are fabricated by assembling the aeSPAs and reSPAs in different morphology, and crawling tests are performed under different conditions to show the adaptivity of robots.

Author(s):  
Nianfeng Wang ◽  
Bicheng Chen ◽  
Xiandong Ge ◽  
Xianmin Zhang ◽  
Wenbin Wang

AbstractCrawling robots have elicited much attention in recent years due to their stable and efficient locomotion. In this work, several crawling robots are developed using two types of soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs), namely, an axial elongation SPA and a dual bending SPA. By constraining the deformation of the elastomeric chamber, the SPAs realize their prescribed motions, and the deformations subjected to pressures are characterized with numerical models. Experiments are performed for verification, and the results show good agreement. The SPAs are fabricated by casting and developed into crawling robots with 3D-printing connectors. Control schemes are presented, and crawling tests are performed. The speeds predicted by the numerical models agree well with the speeds in the experiments.


1975 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ohtsuka

This paper deals with the deformation and the stress of an axial flow compressor rotor blade under the loading of centrifugal forces. Coupled deformation of extension, bending, torsion and transverse shear of a pretwisted curved bar with arbitrary cross section is considered. Governing equations derived by means of the principle of virtual work are solved numerically by finite difference method. The warping functions used in the analysis were obtained by the use of finite element method. Measurement of the untwist angles and the stresses were carried out for the verification of the numerical analysis and they were found to be in good agreement.


2013 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 302-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nilson T. Mascia ◽  
Nádia C.S. Forti ◽  
Julio Soriano ◽  
Elias A. Nicolas ◽  
Tiago L.D. Forti

1976 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ö. Pósfalvi

Abstract The effective elastic properties of the cord-rubber composite are deduced from the principle of virtual work. Such a composite must be compliant in the noncord directions and therefore undergo large deformations. The Rivlin-Mooney equation is used to derive the effective Poisson's ratio and Young's modulus of the composite and as a basis for their measurement in uniaxial tension.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-93
Author(s):  
Hamed Khanger Mina ◽  
Waleed K. Al-Ashtrai

This paper studies the effect of contact areas on the transient response of mechanical structures. Precisely, it investigates replacing the ordinary beam of a structure by two beams of half the thickness, which are joined by bolts. The response of these beams is controlled by adjusting the tightening of the connecting bolts and hence changing the magnitude of the induced frictional force between the two beams which affect the beams damping capacity. A cantilever of two beams joined together by bolts has been investigated numerically and experimentally. The numerical analysis was performed using ANSYS-Workbench version 17.2. A good agreement between the numerical and experimental results has been obtained. In general, results showed that the two beams vibrate independently when the bolts were loosed and the structure stiffness is about 20 N/m and the damping ratio is about 0.008. With increasing the bolts tightening, the stiffness and the damping ratio of the structure were also increased till they reach their maximum values when the tightening force equals to 8330 N, where the structure now has stiffness equals to 88 N/m and the damping ratio is about 0.062. Beyond this force value, increasing the bolts tightening has no effect on stiffness of the structure while the damping ratio is decreased until it returned to 0.008 when the bolts tightening becomes immense and the beams behave as one beam of double thickness.


1996 ◽  
Vol 05 (04) ◽  
pp. 653-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
CÉLINE FIORINI ◽  
JEAN-MICHEL NUNZI ◽  
FABRICE CHARRA ◽  
IFOR D.W. SAMUEL ◽  
JOSEPH ZYSS

An original poling method using purely optical means and based on a dual-frequency interference process is presented. We show that the coherent superposition of two beams at fundamental and second-harmonic frequencies results in a polar field with an irreducible rotational spectrum containing both a vector and an octupolar component. This enables the method to be applied even to molecules without a permanent dipole such as octupolar molecules. After a theoretical analysis of the process, we describe different experiments aiming at light-induced noncentrosymmetry performed respectively on one-dimensional Disperse Red 1 and octupolar Ethyl Violet molecules. Macroscopic octupolar patterning of the induced order is demonstrated in both transient and permanent regimes. Experimental results show good agreement with theory.


Author(s):  
Alfredo Gay Neto ◽  
Peter Wriggers

AbstractWe present a version of the Discrete Element Method considering the particles as rigid polyhedra. The Principle of Virtual Work is employed as basis for a multibody dynamics model. Each particle surface is split into sub-regions, which are tracked for contact with other sub-regions of neighboring particles. Contact interactions are modeled pointwise, considering vertex-face, edge-edge, vertex-edge and vertex-vertex interactions. General polyhedra with triangular faces are considered as particles, permitting multiple pointwise interactions which are automatically detected along the model evolution. We propose a combined interface law composed of a penalty and a barrier approach, to fulfill the contact constraints. Numerical examples demonstrate that the model can handle normal and frictional contact effects in a robust manner. These include simulations of convex and non-convex particles, showing the potential of applicability to materials with complex shaped particles such as sand and railway ballast.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Benedikt Mutsch ◽  
Peter Walzel ◽  
Christian J. Kähler

The droplet deformation in dispersing units of high-pressure homogenizers (HPH) is examined experimentally and numerically. Due to the small size of common homogenizer nozzles, the visual analysis of the transient droplet generation is usually not possible. Therefore, a scaled setup was used. The droplet deformation was determined quantitatively by using a shadow imaging technique. It is shown that the influence of transient stresses on the droplets caused by laminar extensional flow upstream the orifice is highly relevant for the droplet breakup behind the nozzle. Classical approaches based on an equilibrium assumption on the other side are not adequate to explain the observed droplet distributions. Based on the experimental results, a relationship from the literature with numerical simulations adopting different models are used to determine the transient droplet deformation during transition through orifices. It is shown that numerical and experimental results are in fairly good agreement at limited settings. It can be concluded that a scaled apparatus is well suited to estimate the transient droplet formation up to the outlet of the orifice.


Author(s):  
J. P. Meijaard ◽  
V. van der Wijk

Some thoughts about different ways of formulating the equations of motion of a four-bar mechanism are communicated. Four analytic methods to derive the equations of motion are compared. In the first method, Lagrange’s equations in the traditional form are used, and in a second method, the principle of virtual work is used, which leads to equivalent equations. In the third method, the loop is opened, principal points and a principal vector linkage are introduced, and the equations are formulated in terms of these principal vectors, which leads, with the introduced reaction forces, to a system of differential-algebraic equations. In the fourth method, equivalent masses are introduced, which leads to a simpler system of principal points and principal vectors. By considering the links as pseudorigid bodies that can have a uniform planar dilatation, a compact form of the equations of motion is obtained. The conditions for dynamic force balance become almost trivial. Also the equations for the resulting reaction moment are considered for all four methods.


2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Igra ◽  
Ozer Igra ◽  
Lazhar Houas ◽  
Georges Jourdan

Simulations of experimental results appearing in Jourdan et al. (2007, “Drag Coefficient of a Sphere in a Non-Stationary Flow: New Results,”Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A, 463, pp. 3323–3345) regarding acceleration of a sphere by the postshock flow were conducted in order to find the contribution of the various parameters affecting the sphere drag force. Based on the good agreement found between present simulations and experimental findings, it is concluded that the proposed simulation scheme could safely be used for evaluating the sphere’s motion in the postshock flow.


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