Related papers: Actuation mechanisms in twisted and coiled polymer…
Twisted and coiled polymer actuators (TCPAs) generate large contractile mechanical work mimicking natural muscles, which makes them suitable for robotics and health-assistive devices. Understanding the mechanism of nylon TCPA remains…
Thermally actuated twisted and coiled polymer (TCP) artificial muscles exhibit exceptional specific work capacities but are limited by an inherent competition between load-bearing capacity and actuation stroke. To address this limitation,…
This study presents the analytical modeling of a fiber-reinforced tubular conducting polymer (FTCP) actuator. The FTCP actuator is a low voltage-driven electroactive polymer arranged in an electrochemical cell. The electrochemical model is…
Roboticists have been seeking to address this situation in recent years through the use of soft robots. Unfortunately, identifying appropriate models for the complete analysis and investigation of soft robots for design and control purposes…
Inflated-beam soft robots, such as tip-everting vine robots, can control curvature by contracting one beam side via pneumatic actuation. This work develops a general finite element modeling approach to characterize their bending. The model…
In this study, Twisted-Coiled Actuators (TCA) were manufactured by co-coiling a silver coated nylon conductive yarn with a nylon primary mono filament. In the co-coiled TCA, the conductive yarn is used for Joule heating of primary nylon…
This work presents a modeling framework to represent the thermomechanical behavior of complex materials based on micromechanical dynamics. The framework is applied to nuclear fuel rod elements composed of Zircaloy-2 cladding tubes and…
This work introduces a new theoretical model for active matter ("complementary-spins" or c-spins), exploring the interplay of positional and orientational order in mobile agents with rotational freedom, divided into two populations with…
Cytoskeletal filaments are capable of self-assembly in the absence of externally supplied chemical energy, but the rapid turnover rates essential for their biological function require a constant flux of ATP or GTP hydrolysis. The same is…
We propose a model to analyze the insurgence of pull-in and wrinkling failures in electroactive thin films. We take in consideration both cases of voltage and charge control, and study the role of prestretch and size of activated regions,…
Thermal fluctuations of microtubules (MTs) and other cytoskeletal filaments govern to a great extent the complex rheological properties of the cytoskeleton in eukaryotic cells. In recent years, much effort has been put into capturing the…
The study of active solids offers a window into the mechanics and thermodynamics of dense living matter. A key aspect of the non-equilibrium dynamics of such active systems is a mechanistic description of how the underlying mechano-chemical…
Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) are a unique class of intermetallic alloys that can cyclically sustain large deformations and recover a designed geometry through a solid-to-solid phase transformation. SMAs provide favorable actuation energy…
Shape memory alloys (SMAs) have been intensively investigated as actuators for the past several decades. Due to their high actuation energy density compared to other active materials, their current and potential applications in engineering…
Textile pneumatic actuators can provide useful wearable haptic feedback when embedded in gloves, armbands, and other smart garments. Here we investigate actuators fabricated from thermoplastic coated textiles. We measure the effects of…
Soft robotic actuators are safe and adaptable devices with inherent compliance, which makes them attractive for manipulating delicate and complex objects. Researchers have integrated stiff materials into soft actuators to increase their…
Contractile biopolymer networks, such as the actomyosin meshwork of animal cells, are ubiquitous in living organisms. The active gel theory, which provides the thermodynamic framework for these materials, has been mostly used in conjunction…
Modular Active Cell Robots (MACROs) are a design paradigm for modular robotic hardware that uses only two components, namely actuators and passive compliant joints. Under the MACRO approach, a large number of actuators and joints are…
High-entropy alloys (HEAs) comprise a compositionally complex class of materials that in certain cases exhibit outstanding mechanical properties. While substantial progress has been made in understanding their phase stability,…
Understanding the thermal behaviour of superconducting accelerator magnets is essential to ensure their stable and reliable operation. This work presents an extension of the Finite Element Quench Simulator (FiQuS) Multipole module to…