Magnetically Assisted Bilayer Composites for Soft Bending Actuators.

Sung-Hwan Jang,Seon-Hong Na,Yong-Lae Park

doi:10.3390/ma10060646

Abstract

This article presents a soft pneumatic bending actuator using a magnetically assisted bilayer composite composed of silicone polymer and ferromagnetic particles. Bilayer composites were fabricated by mixing ferromagnetic particles to a prepolymer state of silicone in a mold and asymmetrically distributed them by applying a strong non-uniform magnetic field to one side of the mold during the curing process. The biased magnetic field induces sedimentation of the ferromagnetic particles toward one side of the structure. The nonhomogeneous distribution of the particles induces bending of the structure when inflated, as a result of asymmetric stiffness of the composite. The bilayer composites were then characterized with a scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The bending performance and the axial expansion of the actuator were discussed for manipulation applications in soft robotics and bioengineering. The magnetically assisted manufacturing process for the soft bending actuator is a promising technique for various applications in soft robotics.

Highlights

Soft actuators have been widely used in many areas, such as robotics and biomedical engineering, due to their simple structures with flexibility and relatively high power density [1,2,3,4]
We propose a pneumatic soft bending actuator composed of a bilayer composite fabricated using a non-uniform magnetic field
The influence of theComposite non-uniform magnetic field on the particle sedimentation of the bilayer composites was of investigated by a scanning electron microscope (SEM)

Summary

Introduction

Soft actuators have been widely used in many areas, such as robotics and biomedical engineering, due to their simple structures with flexibility and relatively high power density [1,2,3,4]. Bending motions in soft actuators generally can be achieved by changing the geometry and/or material properties by adding heterogeneous materials with different stiffness to the base polymer structure [5,6,7,8,9]. Chang et al have proposed a fluidic bending actuator by bonding two materials with different mechanical properties [13]. Gorissen et al have developed a bending microactuator based on an asymmetric geometry of a thin film structure [14]. Paek et al have developed soft bending tentacles made of elastomeric microtubes that have non-uniform wall thicknesses [16].

Methods

Results

Conclusion