Abstract
Shape-memory materials are smart materials that can remember an original shape and return to their unique state from a deformed secondary shape in the presence of an appropriate stimulus. This property allows these materials to be used as shape-memory artificial muscles, which form a subclass of artificial muscles. The shape-memory artificial muscles are fabricated from shape-memory polymers (SMPs) by twist insertion, shape fixation via Tm or Tg, or by liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs). The prepared SMP artificial muscles can be used in a wide range of applications, from biomimetic and soft robotics to actuators, because they can be operated without sophisticated linkage design and can achieve complex final shapes. Recently, significant achievements have been made in fabrication, modelling, and manipulation of SMP-based artificial muscles. This paper presents a review of the recent progress in shape-memory polymer-based artificial muscles. Here we focus on the mechanisms of SMPs, applications of SMPs as artificial muscles, and the challenges they face concerning actuation. While shape-memory behavior has been demonstrated in several stimulated environments, our focus is on thermal-, photo-, and electrical-actuated SMP artificial muscles.
Highlights
Natural muscles generate enough mechanical energy through enormous driving strain and rapid response to achieve complex movements such as running, swimming, climbing, and flying.Artificial muscles can match specific temporal, spatial, or force regimes typical of biological nature, but so far they cannot fully replicate all of these capabilities [1,2]
Exciting properties of shape-memory polymers (SMPs) have endowed these materials with desirable utility for artificial muscle applications
Along with the development of SMP programming methods, cross-linking methods and different trigger methods suggest that more applications in the form of artificial muscles, robotic fingers, deployable devices, and robotics can be realized
Summary
Natural muscles generate enough mechanical energy through enormous driving strain and rapid response to achieve complex movements such as running, swimming, climbing, and flying. Studies show that the performance of some artificial muscle materials exceeds that of natural muscle in some aspects They are attractive for many applications where a muscle-like response is desirable, for-example in medical devices, prostheses, robotics, toys, biomimetic devices, and micro/nanoelectromechanical systems [3], in which, the high-loading actuators use electro- and thermo-activated artificial muscles [4,5]. Driven by the polymeric actuators, these robots performed a variety of flight motions, such as passively stable ascending and controllable hovering They observed that these robots could detect and withstand collisions with obstacles. SMPs have clear beneficial properties, including their simple, fast response, high extensibility, and high power density with low voltage requirements. They are suitable as controllable actuators or heat-activated artificial muscles. We focus primarily on the scientific aspects of shape-memory polymer artificial muscles, including their mechanisms, applications and challenges
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