Thin fiber-shaped pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM) can generate contractile motions upon stimulation, and it is well known for its good compliance, high weight-to-power ratio, resemblance to animal muscle movements, and, most importantly, the capability to be integrated into fabrics and other textile forms for wearable devices. This fiber-shaped device, based on McKibben technology, consists of an elastomeric bladder that is wrapped around by a braided sleeve, which transfers radial expansion into longitudinal contraction due to the change in the sleeve’s braiding angle while being inflated. This paper investigates the effect of material properties on fiber-shaped PAM’s behavior, including the braiding yarn and bladder’s dimensional and mechanical properties. A range of samples with combinations of yarn and bladder parameters were developed and characterized. A robust fabrication process verified through several calibration and control experiments of PAM was applied, which ensured a more accurate characterization of the actuators. The results demonstrate that material properties, such as yarn stiffness, yarn diameter, bladder diameter, and bladder hardness, have significant effects on PAMs’ deformation strains and forces generated. The findings can serve as fundamental guidelines for the future design and development of fiber-shaped pneumatic actuators.
), which helps us to understand the effect of the bladder size exclusively. The thin PAM fabricated with bladder #3 showed a significantly high free contraction as compared to that of the PAM fabricated with bladder #1. The yarn–bladder contact surfaces of PAMs using smaller bladders are exceedingly low relative to that of PAMs using large bladders.
In the end, it is worth mentioning that we have observed significant deviations in blocking forces and free contractions in some PAM samples. They can be attributed to the structure nonuniformity that was formed during the braiding processes and handling during the characterization process. This can be improved by using braiders with an advanced yarn tension control system and by selecting optimized braiding angles for specific yarns and bladders.
The stiffness of the yarn is in direct proportion to PAM’s blocking force. However, it does not have a significant effect on the free contraction of the actuator. Once the yarn stiffness is beyond a certain amplitude, its influence becomes non-significant. Yarn diameter decides its affordable force. Small yarn dimension tends to result in a reduced PAM blocking force. Again, when the yarn’s diameter is large enough and its stiffness is very high, the influence of yarn size is negligible.Regarding the bladder’s properties, its hardness has an exceeding influence on PAM’s performance. Although the softer bladder is able to generate a higher free contraction of PAM, it can easily bulge out through the braiding sleeve and cause destructive failure.
In summary, this paper comprehensively investigated the relationships between materials properties and thin McKibben actuators’ performance. The findings can serve as fundamental guidelines for future design and applications in advanced soft robotics-based thin McKibben actuators. We view the need for future studies to quantitatively understand the contributions of yarn–yarn and yarn–bladder frictions on PAM’s behavior and properties to be important.Conceptualization, X.F. and M.A.H.
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