Shape Memory Polymer Actuators

A special issue of Actuators (ISSN 2076-0825). This special issue belongs to the section "Actuator Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 May 2021) | Viewed by 10755

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 3, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Interests: shape memory materials; 3D printing; 4D printing; constitutive modeling; finite element method; mechanics of materials; soft actuators; soft robotics

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Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Interests: mechanics of polymeric and composite materials; shape memory polymers; thermal and mechanical characterization; additive manufacturing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The shape memory effect in polymers is a stimuli-responsive feature that is attracting a great deal of attention. It focuses on the development of smart actuators to address current challenges in the aeronautic, robotic, automobile, and medical industries. The recent progress in additive manufacturing techniques for shape memory polymers (often referred to as 4D printing) as well as the combination of the shape memory effect with advantageous properties, such as reduced weight, high deformability, and biocompatibility/degradability, have also opened new perspectives in the fabrication of complex multi-functional actuators with high precision.

This Special Issue invites review articles, original research papers, and short communications addressing the latest advances in the field of shape memory polymer actuators. The covered topics will include, but will not be limited to material synthesis, material modelling, computational techniques for modeling, design and optimization, experimental characterization and validation, manufacturing, and applications.

We look forward to your valuable contributions.

Dr. Giulia Scalet
Prof. Dr. Stefano Pandini
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • shape memory polymers
  • shape memory effect
  • smart actuators
  • actuator design
  • material modeling
  • material synthesis
  • experimental characterization
  • manufacturing techniques
  • actuator control
  • 3D and 4D printing

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 10072 KiB  
Article
Nonlinear Finite Element Modelling of Thermo-Visco-Plastic Styrene and Polyurethane Shape Memory Polymer Foams
by Hamid Reza Jarrah, Ali Zolfagharian, Reza Hedayati, Ahmad Serjouei and Mahdi Bodaghi
Actuators 2021, 10(3), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/act10030046 - 28 Feb 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4313
Abstract
This paper presents nonlinear finite element (FE) models to predict time- and temperature-dependent responses of shape memory polymer (SMP) foams in the large deformation regime. For the first time, an A SMP foam constitutive model is implemented in the ABAQUS FE package with [...] Read more.
This paper presents nonlinear finite element (FE) models to predict time- and temperature-dependent responses of shape memory polymer (SMP) foams in the large deformation regime. For the first time, an A SMP foam constitutive model is implemented in the ABAQUS FE package with the aid of a VUMAT subroutine to predict thermo-visco-plastic behaviors. A phenomenological constitutive model is reformulated adopting a multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient into thermal and mechanical parts considering visco-plastic SMP matrix and glass microsphere inclusions. The stress split scheme is considered by a Maxwell element in parallel with a hyper-elastic rubbery spring. The Eyring dashpot is used for modelling the isotropic resistance to the local molecular rearrangement such as chain rotation. A viscous flow rule is adopted to prescribe shear viscosity and stress. An evolution rule is also considered for the athermal shear strengths to simulate macroscopic post-yield strain-softening behavior. In order to validate the accuracy of the model as well as the solution procedure, the numerical results are compared to experimental responses of Styrene and Polyurethane SMP foams at different temperatures and under different strain rates. The results show that the introduced FE modelling procedure is capable of capturing the major phenomena observed in experiments such as elastic and elastic-plastic behaviors, softening plateau regime, and densification. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Shape Memory Polymer Actuators)
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Review

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15 pages, 3640 KiB  
Review
4D Textiles Made by Additive Manufacturing on Pre-Stressed Textiles—An Overview
by Hannah Carlotta Koch, David Schmelzeisen and Thomas Gries
Actuators 2021, 10(2), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/act10020031 - 10 Feb 2021
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 5503
Abstract
Four-dimensional textiles are textiles that can change shape or function over time by the influence of a stimulus, mainly force and heat. In this review, the focus is on 4D textiles made by additive manufacturing which is built on the concept of 4D [...] Read more.
Four-dimensional textiles are textiles that can change shape or function over time by the influence of a stimulus, mainly force and heat. In this review, the focus is on 4D textiles made by additive manufacturing which is built on the concept of 4D printing. A literature survey in Web of Science and Scopus was carried out, which resulted in 29 contributions on additive manufacturing on pre-stressed textiles. In this paper, an overview of materials, production technologies and testing methods is given. The concepts of form giving and shape change transferred to 4D textiles are classified. The influencing factors on the properties of the material structure are presented. The main focus of the literature lies in defining process and material properties for improving the adhesion. Only limited research has been conducted on simulating the material behavior. Ideas for applications exist but no research has been conducted on real applications. Therefore, the challenges are identified, and future research directions are derived. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Shape Memory Polymer Actuators)
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