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The use of non-conventional materials is nowadays of much interest in scientific community. Magneto-rheological elastomers are hybrid materials, which in presence of magnetic fields state a change in their mechanical properties. They are composed by an elastomeric matrix with embedded magnetic particles. One of the most attractive features of these materials is that as soon as the magnetic field is removed from the material, the original mechanical properties are completely recovered, with negligible differences in comparison to the original state. This paper focuses on the study of magnetic characteristics of these smart materials, such as relative permeability and demagnetizing factors, for samples with different volume concentration of ferromagnetic particles.
The use of mechanically prestressed compliant structures in soft robotics is a recently discussed topic. Tensegrity structures, consisting of a set of rigid disconnected compressed members connected to a continuous net of prestressed elastic tensioned members build one specific class of these structures. Robots based on these structures have manifold shape changing abilities and can adapt their mechanical properties reversibly by changing of their prestress state according to specific tasks.
In the paper selected aspects on the potential use of elastomer materials in these structures are discussed with the help of theoretical analysis. Therefore, a selected basic tensegrity structure with elastomer members is investigated focusing on the stiffness and shape changing ability in dependence of the nonlinear hyperelastic behavior of the used elastomer materials. The considered structure is compared with a conventional tensegrity structure with linear elastic tensioned members. Finally, selected criterions for the advantageous use of elastomer materials in compliant tensegrity robots are discussed.
Properties of Polydimethylsiloxane and Magnetoactive Polymers with Electroconductive Particles
(2018)
Magnetoactive polymers are intelligent materials whose mechanical and electrical characteristics are reversibly influenced by external magnetic stimuli. They consist of a highly elastic polymer matrix in which magnetically soft and/or hard particles are distributed by means of special fabrication processes. In addition to ferromagnetic particles such as carbonyl iron powder, electrically conductive particles may also be embedded into the polymer matrix. After characterizing a range of compounds, this work focuses on a comparison of the electrical properties and the suitability of various materials for applications, with particular emphasis on integration into 3D and 6D printing processes. 6D printing is based on the selective positioning of particles in a 3D polymer matrix with a further three degrees of freedom for a graduated dispersion of the particles at certain points and in desired directions. The aim is therefore to ensure that the polymers containing electroconductive tracks have the best possible electrical properties, that is, low resistivity but are still capable of being printed. A comparison between the traditionally used compounds containing graphite and carbon black is made for the first time. This latter is found to be greatly superior both in terms of electrical conductivity and applicability to 3D printing and 6D printing.
Towards Magneto-Sensitive Elastomers Based End-Effectors for Gripping Application Technologies
(2019)
Nowadays, the demands in engineering systems become more challenging and the use of conventional materials for certain applications is not suitable. This issue encourages the investigation of novel and innovative materials in soft robotics field. A promising approach is the consideration of magneto-sensitive elastomers (MSE). These materials enable a useful adaptability responding to their mechanical properties. By applying a static magnetic field, the static and dynamic characteristics can be tuned. However, currently the knowledge about the correlations are not satisfying and the resulting material properties can only be predicted approximately with the use of time-expensive simulations regarding to the nano scale. Therefore, feasible material simulations of the description of the mechanical behavior are necessary. In this paper experimental studies of the influence of a static magnetic field on the mechanical properties and shape adaptability of MSE are presented. Furthermore, based on these results a simulation for the material behavior is executed. These results can be implemented into further simulations for various MSE exemplars.
Rodents use their mystacial vibrissae, e.g., to recognize the shape or determine the surface texture of an object. The vibrissal sensory system consists of two components: the hair shaft and the follicle-sinus complex (FSC). Both components affect the collection of information, but the impacts of the different properties are not completely clear. Borrowing the natural example, the goal is to design a powerful artificial sensor. The influence of a continuous visco-elastic support is analyzed for an artificial sensor following hypotheses about the FSC. Starting with a theoretical treatment of this scenario, the vibrissa is modeled as an Euler-Bernoulli bending beam with a partially continuous visco-elastic support. The numerical simulations are validated by experiments. Using a steel strip as a technical vibrissa and a magneto-sensitive elastomer (MSE) as representation of the artificial continuous visco-elastic support, FSC respectively, the first resonance frequency is determined.
A feasible possibility to develop planar reconfigurable mechanisms is introduced in this work. Applying the tensegrity principle to common four-bar linkages allows a controllable change between two configurations of the mechanism. These two states correspond to different working spaces which vary regarding to the kinematic and mechanical properties. Therefore, the reconfiguration of the mechanism enables two different operation modes. Hence, this kind of mechanism enables the advantageous properties of conventional linkages with an additional enhanced adaptability of the kinematic and mechanic behavior. Beside the conceptual design of such tensegrity-based mechanisms, a reconfigurable four-bar parallel linkage is considered exemplarily. Numerical simulations are evaluated focusing on the kinematic behavior and the structural mechanics of this mechanism. Especially the reconfiguration of the mechanism by changing between two different working spaces is considered. The simulation results clarify the benefit of utilizing the tensegrity principle in mechanism theory. Adding only a few members to the original linkage enables a reconfigurable mechanism with comparable complexity.
The development of actuator and sensor systems with complex adaptive behavior and operating sensitivity is one of the actual scientific challenges. Smart materials like magneto-sensitive elastomers (MSEs) offer great potential for designing such intelligent devices, because they possess unique magnetic-field-dependent properties. The present paper deals with investigations of the free and forced vibrational behavior displayed by cantilever beams of MSEs containing magnetically soft particles in a uniform magnetic field. It is shown experimentally as well as theoretically that the first bending eigenfrequency of MSE beams depends strongly on the strength of an applied magnetic field. The proposed magneto-mechanical model is based on the vibrational dynamics of thin rods and predicts reliably the amplitude–frequency characteristics depending on the geometric configuration of the MSE and its material parameters. It is found that the vibration response of an MSE beam under kinematic excitation of its base can be modified indirectly by a magnetic field control due to the change of the vibration characteristics. As a result, the resonance can occur in different ranges of the excitation frequency. The dependencies of the amplification ratio on the excitation frequency are obtained experimentally and compared with the result provided by the theoretical model. Moreover, investigations on the potential use of the field-induced plasticity effect of MSEs in form-fit gripper applications are presented. This effect can be used to realize shape adaptable system parts. It is found that the mechanical properties of each component and its concentration within the mixture have an impact on the mechanical behavior of the whole MSE compound. Such parameters as the strength of magnetic field and geometry of the MSE sample have influence on the quality of shape adaptation. The evidence presented provides a good basis for the realization of MSE-based actuator and sensor systems with adaptable sensitivity.
In this paper compliant multistable tensegrity structures with discrete variable stiffness are investigated. The different stiffness states result from the different prestress states of these structures corresponding to the equilibrium configurations. Three planar tensegrity mechanisms with two stable equilibrium configurations are considered exemplarily. The overall stiffness of these structures is characterized by investigations with regard to their geometric nonlinear static behavior. Dynamical analyses show the possibility of the change between the equilibrium configurations and enable the derivation of suitable actuation strategies.