Journal article
Modeling and Experimental Evaluation of Bending Behavior of Soft Pneumatic Actuators Made of Discrete Actuation Chambers
Soft robotics, Vol.5(1), pp.24-35
01/02/2018
PMID: 29412079
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Abstract
In this article, we have established an analytical model to estimate the quasi-static bending displacement (i.e., angle) of the pneumatic actuators made of two different elastomeric silicones (Elastosil M4601 with a bulk modulus of elasticity of 262 kPa and Translucent Soft silicone with a bulk modulus of elasticity of 48 kPa—both experimentally determined) and of discrete chambers, partially separated from each other with a gap in between the chambers to increase the magnitude of their bending angle. The numerical bending angle results from the proposed gray-box model, and the corresponding experimental results match well that the model is accurate enough to predict the bending behavior of this class of pneumatic soft actuators. Further, by using the experimental bending angle results and blocking force results, the effective modulus of elasticity of the actuators is estimated from a blocking force model. The numerical and experimental results presented show that the bending angle and blocking force models are valid for this class of pneumatic actuators. Another contribution of this study is to incorporate a bistable flexible thin metal typified by a tape measure into the topology of the actuators to prevent the deflection of the actuators under their own weight when operating in the vertical plane.
Details
- Title
- Modeling and Experimental Evaluation of Bending Behavior of Soft Pneumatic Actuators Made of Discrete Actuation Chambers
- Creators
- Gursel Alici - University of WollongongTaylor Canty - University of WollongongRahim Mutlu - University of WollongongWeiping Hu - University of WollongongVitor Sencadas - University of Wollongong
- Publication Details
- Soft robotics, Vol.5(1), pp.24-35
- Publisher
- Mary Ann Liebert, Inc
- Number of pages
- 12
- Grant note
- This study was supported by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials (ACES) (Grant No. CE140100012). This work is partly supported by the Intelligent Nano-Tera Research Systems Laboratory at University of Wollongong.
- Identifiers
- 991013225622402368
- Copyright
- © 2018, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article