A Variable Stiffness Spring–Sponge Composite Tube with Fast Response and Shape Recovery

Soft robots have attracted more and more attention from researchers in the past decades, and multiple materials and methods have been studied to solve the conflict between strength and adaptability. This paper presents a novel composite tube comprising a spring and sponge, which can transform betwee...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Macromolecular materials and engineering 2018-10, Vol.303 (10), p.n/a
Main Authors: Ren, Xuyang, Zhang, Guokai, Shang, Zufeng, Wang, Shuxin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
composites
Fixing devices
invertible stiffness
Orifices
Recovery
Rehabilitation
shape recovery
Softness
Stiffness
variable stiffness
water vapor stimulation
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Summary:Soft robots have attracted more and more attention from researchers in the past decades, and multiple materials and methods have been studied to solve the conflict between strength and adaptability. This paper presents a novel composite tube comprising a spring and sponge, which can transform between stiffness and softness, and also proposes a corresponding novel method to alter the stiffness of the tube swiftly and reliably. Additionally, studies indicate that the tube exhibits shape‐recovery ability. The potential applications of the tube are illustrated in a coat of the supporting structure in the natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery instrument, a fixing device for human arthrosis and skeleton rehabilitation, and a variable stiffness multidirectional actuator. A variable stiffness spring‐sponge composite tube (SSCT) that can be deformed into and keep various shapes. This tube exhibits remarkable stiffness variation range and shape recovery ability with an excellent switching efficiency. Some tests have demonstrated the properties of the SSCT. The applications of the SSCT are illustrated in surgery instruments, human rehabilitation, and multidirectional actuators.
ISSN:1438-7492
1439-2054
DOI:10.1002/mame.201800185