Abstract
We report a design concept for a deployable planar microdevice and the modeling and experimental validation of its mechanical behavior. The device consists of foldable membranes that are suspended between flexible stems and actuated by push-pull wires. Such a deployable device can be introduced into a region of interest in its compact “collapsed” state and then deployed to conformally cover a large two-dimensional surface area for minimally invasive biomedical operations and other engineering applications. We develop and experimentally validate theoretical models based on the energy minimization approach to examine the conformality and figures of merit of the device. The experimental results obtained using model contact surfaces agree well with the prediction and quantitatively highlight the importance of the membrane bending modulus in controlling surface conformality. The present study establishes an early foundation for the mechanical design of this and related deployable planar microdevice concepts.
Highlights
Deployable devices that can be introduced into a region of interest in their compact collapsed states and deployed to cover large volumes or surface areas are of great interest to various engineering and biomedical applications [1,2,3,4,5]
We mainly focus on how the behavior of the deployable device with fixed dimensions (l, s) changes as we vary the elastocapillary lengths by using membranes of different thicknesses
The device consists of a foldable membrane suspended between semi-flexible stems via push-pull wires for controlled deployment
Summary
Deployable devices that can be introduced into a region of interest in their compact collapsed states and deployed to cover large volumes or surface areas are of great interest to various engineering and biomedical applications [1,2,3,4,5]. Existing deployable devices and tools, in particular those employed for minimally invasive bio-medical procedures, are mostly limited to mechanical functionalities They target limited geometries, as they very often rely on inflatable balloons for deployment [6,7]. The push-pull wires allow the membranes to be deployed in situ along a gap and cover a large surface area
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