Jang, Y.; Nabae, H.; Suzumori, K. Evaluation of Spiral Pneumatic Rubber Actuator Using Finite Element Analysis for Radial Transportation. Actuators2023, 12, 205.
Jang, Y.; Nabae, H.; Suzumori, K. Evaluation of Spiral Pneumatic Rubber Actuator Using Finite Element Analysis for Radial Transportation. Actuators 2023, 12, 205.
Jang, Y.; Nabae, H.; Suzumori, K. Evaluation of Spiral Pneumatic Rubber Actuator Using Finite Element Analysis for Radial Transportation. Actuators2023, 12, 205.
Jang, Y.; Nabae, H.; Suzumori, K. Evaluation of Spiral Pneumatic Rubber Actuator Using Finite Element Analysis for Radial Transportation. Actuators 2023, 12, 205.
Abstract
Emerging soft actuators with various soft materials and traveling-wave motion have been frequently discussed. Various configurations and the resulting performances have been proposed, and it is very challenging for soft actuators in realizing large strokes. This study presents an experimentally validated nonlinear finite element model to predict the deformation produced by a spiral pneumatic rubber actuator to generate traveling-wave motion. The actuator consists of a membrane mounted on a rubber substrate with three air chambers in a spiral configuration, simplifying the actuator's structure. The sequential deformations of the successive chambers interact with each other and produce radial traveling-waves on the membrane surface, driving the objects placed on the actuator. Finite element analysis using ANSYS computer software analyzed the elastic movement by considering the influence of different initial structural types. The structure with three different length ratios was introduced using the four parameters: membrane thickness, chamber width, chamber depth, and wall thickness. The simulation results indicated an optimal structure with specific ratios. A reasonable correlation was obtained during experimental validation; the predicted displacement values were approximately 17% smaller than the experimental values. Finally, the transportation performance of the prototype was tested and a velocity of 2.28 mm/s in the desired direction was achieved. We expect that our demonstration will expand the range of applications of the spiral pneumatic rubber actuator to include conveying or worm-like robots.
Keywords
Soft Robotics; Soft Pneumatic Actuators; Spiral Structural; Finite Element Analysis
Subject
Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.