Design, characterization, modeling, and comparison of helically wrapped super-coiled polymer artificial muscles

Tsabedze, Thulani; Zhang, Jun

doi:10.1016/j.sna.2021.113018

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Similar behavior was found by Tsabedze et al. 16 Their TCPAs contracted by 60% when annealed at 150 C, which was not repeatable. Only annealing at higher temperatures lead to repeatable contractions of 21%.…”

Section: Monofilament Tcpassupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Subsequently they relax further during the activation resulting in unrecovered strain after cooldown to room temperature. Similar behavior was found by Tsabedze et al.. 16 Their TCPAs contracted by 60% when annealed at 150°C, which was not repeatable. Only annealing at higher temperatures lead to repeatable contractions of 21%.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Their contractility is similar to mandrel-coiled TCPAs produced using other methods, with a range of 28-55% compared to the 53% achieved in this study. 16,27 A side-by-side comparison of our actuator results with previously published mandrel-coiled TCPAs is shown in Table 1. The calculated energy densities are slightly lower in comparison with previous findings.…”

Section: Braidingmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…14 In contrast, mandrel-coiled TCPAs can be produced within a wide range of helix geometries and without initial ICC; however, their energy density is lower than that of non-mandrel-coiled TCPAs. 16 The resulting coil can be homochiral or heterochiral, depending on the handedness of the twist in the fiber and coil (Figure 1). The coil is then annealed to relax embedded stresses and permanently set its shape.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Continuous textile manufacturing method for twisted coiled polymer artificial muscles

Mersch

Witham

Solzbacher

et al. 2023

Textile Research Journal

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Twisted, coiled polymer actuators (TCPAs) are a promising type of fiber-based actuators with high energy density, low material costs, and good recyclability; however, current manufacturing methods limit the length and stability of TCPAs, hampering their potential for large-scale textile applications. To overcome this limitation, we propose a textile manufacturing method based on the false-twisting principle, allowing for continuous and rapid production of highly twisted monofilaments. Additionally, this process enables the plying of two or more twisted monofilaments together, as well as the integration of wires for heating and sensing purposes. The resulting twist-stable plies can then be mandrel-coiled and annealed to create a new class of TCPAs with three superimposed levels of helicity, in contrast to the usual two levels. In this study, we investigate the impact of the additional helix level and various factors, including twist density, annealing temperature, cooling speed, and chirality, on the contractility of these TCPAs. Furthermore, due to the twist-stability of the plied yarns, they can be processed on standard textile machines, enabling the manufacture of TCPAs with multiple active yarns that can form contracting artificial muscles using a circular braiding machine. Our key findings reveal that the twisted monofilament coils can contract up to 60%, and higher twist density leads to improved performance for monofilament TCPAs. Notably, this phenomenon is not observed in plied-yarn TCPAs, where varying levels of twist on the monofilament and yarn helix level result in enhanced contractile performance. Overall, this work presents a novel textile manufacturing method for producing twist-stable TCPAs with good contractile performance, providing insights into the design and fabrication of advanced fiber-based actuators for potential applications in large-scale textiles, robotics, and biomedical devices.

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Section: Monofilament Tcpassupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Braidingmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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