Bioinspired pattern-driven single-material 4D printing for self-morphing actuators

Alshebly, YS, Mustapha, KB, Zolfagharian, A, Bodaghi, M ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0707-944X, Mohamed Ali, MS, Almurib, HA and Nafea, M, 2022. Bioinspired pattern-driven single-material 4D printing for self-morphing actuators. Sustainability, 14 (16): 10141. ISSN 2071-1050

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Abstract

Four-dimensional (4D) printing of shape memory polymers is a leading research field due to the possibilities allowed by using these materials. The strain difference in the structures that is caused by the different stiffness profiles can be used to influence the shape-memory effect in the actuators. In this study, the influence of patterns on the strain is tested in polylactic acid (PLA) actuators using patterns made of different shapes. Five bioinspired geometrical shapes, namely, circles, squares, hexagons, rhombuses, and triangles, are used in the three-dimensional (3D) printing of the actuators. The use of shapes of different sizes along with combinations of different patterns in the PLA actuators is carried out to develop 40 actuators with different designs. The effects of the patterns and their characteristics are analysed and compared. The self-bending angles of the actuators range from 6.19° to 30.86°, depending on the patterns and arrangement used. To demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing the proposed designs in practical applications, a hand-like shaped gripper is developed. The results show that the gripper can grip objects with uniform and non-uniform cross-sections. The developed gripper demonstrates that the proposed concept can be implemented in various applications, including self-morphing structures and soft robotics.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Sustainability
Creators:	Alshebly, Y.S., Mustapha, K.B., Zolfagharian, A., Bodaghi, M., Mohamed Ali, M.S., Almurib, H.A. and Nafea, M.
Publisher:	MDPI AG
Date:	16 August 2022
Volume:	14
Number:	16
ISSN:	2071-1050
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3390/su141610141 DOI 1599237 Other
Rights:	© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Laura Ward
Date Added:	15 Sep 2022 10:21
Last Modified:	15 Sep 2022 10:21
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/47036

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