E-Skin Development and Prototyping via Soft Tooling and Composites with Silicone Rubber and Carbon Nanotubes

The strategy of embedding conductive materials on polymeric matrices has produced functional and wearable artificial electronic skin prototypes capable of transduction signals, such as pressure, force, humidity, or temperature. However, these prototypes are expensive and cover small areas. This study proposes a more affordable manufacturing strategy for manufacturing conductive layers with 6 × 6 matrix micropatterns of RTV-2 silicone rubber and Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNT). A novel mold with two cavities and two different micropatterns was designed and tested as a proof-of-concept using Low-Force Stereolithography-based additive manufacturing (AM). The effect SWCNT concentrations (3 wt.%, 4 wt.%, and 5 wt.%) on the mechanical properties were characterized by quasi-static axial deformation tests, which allowed them to stretch up to ~160%. The elastomeric soft material’s hysteresis energy (Mullin’s effect) was fitted using the Ogden–Roxburgh model and the Nelder–Mead algorithm. The assessment showed that the resulting multilayer material exhibits high flexibility and high conductivity (surface resistivity ~7.97 × 104 Ω/sq) and that robust soft tooling can be used for other devices.

Determination of the optimum ball radius for researching materials using ball indenting

The article discusses the study of the effect of a change in the radius of the ball in the injecting of the sample on the curve in the coordinates «load – indentation depth», the deviation of the indentation depth during elastoplastic indentation from the indentation depth with the elastic indentation and the amount of the axial deformation of the ball. The study was conducted using the Ansys Mechanical APDL program implementing the fenite element method. In the process of the study, it was found that with a change in the radius of the ball, there is no obvious change in the behavior of the sample material, and the deviation of the indentation depth during the elastoplastic indulgence from the indentation depth during the elastic indentation is not dependent on the size of the ball radius. There was also an effect of changing the radius of the ball on the size of the axial deformation of the ball and proposed a formula for determining the size of the axial deformation of the ball for the ball of any diameter, which will determine the actual depth of the ball into the ball when using the balls of different radius.

Ductile connection to improve the fire performance of bare-steel and composite frames

PurposeIn order to improve the robustness of bare-steel and composite structures in fire, a novel axially and rotationally ductile connection has been proposed in this paper.Design/methodology/approachThe component-based models of the bare-steel ductile connection and composite ductile connection have been proposed and incorporated into the software Vulcan to facilitate global frame analysis for performance-based structural fire engineering design. These component-based models are validated against detailed Abaqus FE models and experiments. A series of 2-D bare-steel frame models and 3-D composite frame models with ductile connections, idealised rigid and pinned connections, have been created using Vulcan to compare the fire performance of ductile connection with other connection types in bare-steel and composite structures.FindingsThe comparison results show that the proposed ductile connection can provide excellent ductility to accommodate the axial deformation of connected beam under fire conditions, thus reducing the axial forces generated in the connection and potentially preventing the premature brittle failure of the connection.Originality/valueCompared with conventional connection types, the proposed ductile connection exhibits considerable deformability, and can potentially enhance the robustness of structures in fire.

Behavior of CFRP-Confined Sand-Based Material Columns under Axial Compression

This paper presents an innovative pumpable standing support designed for underground mines located in the arid and semi-arid deserts of the Gobi region with a shortage of water resources. The exterior shell of this pumpable standing support is made of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP), while the infill material is a sand-based material (SBM). As the novel backfill material, SBM is the combination of high-water cementing material and desert sand. A series of experimental tests were conducted to obtain the mechanical response mechanism of this novel pumpable standing support under uniaxial compression. Test variables investigated in this research covered the water-to-powder ratio of the cementing material, the mixing amount of sand, and the thickness of the CFRP tube. Test results confirmed that the CFRP-confined SBM columns exhibited typical strain hardening behavior with the acceptable axial deformation. It was also demonstrated that using high-strength cementing material, a thicker CFRP tube, and a high mixing amount of sand effectively increased the bearing capacity of the CFRP-confined SBM column. Except for the exemplary structural behavior, the consumption of high-water cementing materials of the novel pumpable standing support is smaller than that of its counterparts made of pure cementing material, when specimens with the same mechanical performance are compared.

Experiment on Strength and Failure Behavior of Sandstone Containing Pre-Existing Cracks Under Brazilian Compression

Determination of the mechanical properties of rock containing pre-existing cracks under tension condition is of great significance to understand the failure process of rock in engineering. This paper presents the experimental results of sandstone containing pre-existing cracks under Brazilian compression. The characteristics of the microcracks were analyzed by a scanning electron microscope. The results show that the rock containing pre-existing cracks has an obvious anisotropic characteristic. When the crack inclination is 45°, the rock has the minimum tensile strength and the weakest axial deformation resistance.

Analysis of Electromagnetic Force And Formability of Tube Electromagnetic Bulging Based On Convex Magnetic Field Shaper

In order to solve the problems of non-uniform axial deformation and thinning of wall thickness in traditional tube electromagnetic bulging, a method of tube electromagnetic bulging based on convex magnetic field shaper is proposed in this paper. The electromagnetic-structure coupling model is constructed by using COMSOL software, and the influence of convex magnetic field shaper structure on radial and axial electromagnetic force, axial deformation uniformity and wall thickness reduction is analyzed, and compared with traditional tube electromagnetic bulging. The results show that by using this method, the axial deformation uniformity is increased by 4.2 times, and the relative wall thickness is reduced by 33%. Obviously, this method of tube bulging can effectively overcome the problems existing in traditional tube electromagnetic bulging and promote the wide application of electromagnetic forming technology.

Effect of Geometrical Shape on Axial Deformation of Soft Actuator

Soft actuators are the latest trend of research because of their light weight and ease of manufacturing and control. Soft actuators have expanded their fields and taken place in many applications where linear or angular deflection is required. Soft actuators are very useful in the applications where deflection is required with soft touch. Soft Actuators are highly compliant and adaptive to unknown environments. Because of these characteristics, soft actuators are very popular in the field of medical and in the applications where interaction with fragile structure is required. The soft actuators can give required responses mostly depends on their shape. Linear or angular deformation can be achieved by changing the geometrical shape of actuators. This paper presents the effect of geometrical shape on axial deformation of soft pneumatic actuator. Samples of soft actuators are selected with various shapes for finite element analysis. Results are obtained in form of axial and lateral deformation. An attempt is made to achieve good amount of axial deformation with very less or negligible lateral deformation by selecting appropriate shape. Based on the generated results, the shape is identified which gives desired results and more suitable among the selected nine samples. This sample can be useful in the application having space constraint in lateral direction.

Effect of thermal barrier coating on thermal load of the rotor of the small aviation wankel engine

Due to its high-altitude, low-temperature, high-load, and air-cooled working environment, small aviation rotary engines have problems such as large component load and low heat dissipation efficiency. As the main moving part of the engine, the rotor is continuously exposed to the complex temperature field of the engine. As an effective high-temperature protective coating, the thermal barrier coating can isolate the heat load generated by the work of the combustion chamber and effectively improve the complex work condition of the triangular rotor. This paper takes the triangular rotor of a small aviation Wankel engine as the research object, and establishes the finite element model of the rotor and the coating. The engine thermodynamic simulation model is established by Simulink, and the combustion chamber temperature and heat transfer coefficient are calculated. The heat transfer coefficients of the other surfaces of the rotor were calculated by series thermal resistance, which were used as boundary conditions for finite element analysis of the rotor and the coating. The temperature field, stress field and deformation of the rotor before and after processing the thermal barrier coating are compared. The results showed that after the thermal barrier coating, the temperature of the rotor will drop by about 50K on average. The temperature of the pit and cooling hole of the rotor will drop by 17K and 16K respectively, and the temperature of the inner edge and side end surface of the sealing groove will drop by about 10K. The stress values at the inner side of the rotor seal groove, the inner cavity cooling hole, and the inner hole of the rotor are reduced by about 35.4MPa, 29.4MPa, 33.4MPa, respectively, and the stress value at the bonding layer is 150MPa, which is significantly higher than the stress value at the corresponding position of the original rotor, indicating that there is stress Concentration phenomenon. At the same time, the deformation at both ends of the rotor seal groove is reduced from 61.92μm to 52.55μm, and the difference in the axial deformation of each position is less than 3mm. It can be obtained that the thermal barrier coating can effectively reduce the radial deformation of the rotor and has little effect on the axial deformation of the rotor.

Cyclic loading test of reinforced concrete frames protected with brace-type friction dampers

In this study, cyclic loading tests were conducted on reinforced concrete (RC) portal frames with brace-type friction dampers. The boundary conditions that could reproduce the axial forces exerted on the beams were adopted. To resist the axial force acting on the RC member, a damper connection method was employed by using steel inserted through the center of the RC member. The purpose of this study was to a) understand the behavior of the damper connection and the RC frame with brace-type friction dampers based on experimental tests and b) to confirm the effectiveness of the new connection method. According to the test results, the proposed connection method achieved effective damper connections in the RC frames. For the RC frame specimens with dampers, it was confirmed that the damper reached its sliding force and started to dissipate energy at an early stage with story drift ratios smaller than those at RC beam yielding. The welded part of the gusset plate and the steel inserted through the center of the RC beam were broken. When the welded part inside the beam broke and the axial deformation of the beam increased, the sliding displacement of the damper decreased. Therefore, a reliable jointing method of this part needs to be established.

Structural geometries and mechanical properties of vertebral implant with honeycomb sandwich structure for vertebral compression fractures: a finite element analysis

Background Because of osteoporosis, traffic accidents, falling from high places, and other reasons, the vertebral body can be compressed and even collapse. Vertebral implants can be used for clinical treatment. Because of the advantages of honeycomb sandwich structures, such as low cost, less material, light weight, high strength, and good cushioning performance. In this paper, the honeycomb sandwich structure was used as the basic structure of vertebral implants. Methods The orthogonal experiment method is applied to analyse the size effect of honeycomb sandwich structures by the finite element method. Based on the minimum requirements of three indexes of peak stress, axial deformation, and anterior–posterior deformation, the optimal structure size was determined. Furthermore, through local optimization of the overall structure of the implant, a better honeycomb sandwich structure vertebral implant was designed. Results The optimal structure size combination was determined as a panel thickness of 1 mm, wall thickness if 0.49 mm, cell side length of 1 mm, and height of 6 mm. Through local optimization, the peak stress was further reduced, the overall stress distribution was uniform, and the deformation was reduced. The optimized peak stress decreased to 1.041 MPa, the axial deformation was 0.1110%, and the anterior–posterior deformation was 0.0145%. A vertebral implant with good mechanical performance was designed. Conclusions This paper is the first to investigate vertebral implants with honeycomb sandwich structures. The design and analysis of the vertebral implant with a honeycomb sandwich structure were processed by the finite element method. This research can provide a feasible way to analyse and design clinical implants based on biomechanical principles.