Stiffness pairing in soft‐hard active‐passive actuators

Abstract

AbstractSoft‐Hard Active‐Passive Embedded Structures (SHAPES) are composites that respond to the environments in which they are embedded. This reaction can be a mechanical actuation, but also an intrinsic computation that yields an adaptation as a result. The actuation capabilities primarily depend on the stiffness combination of the involved materials. Stiffness includes both material parameters (depending on the chosen material model, e.g., the Young's modulus) and geometry parameters (depending on the type of structure, e.g., the beam height). The active properties can be included using the Stimulus Expansion Model, which is based on the analogy of the active reponse to thermal expansion. SHAPES can be designed according to three different behaviors, Case I constrained, Case II combined and Case III free. In the current work, these cases, the modelling and design background, and various examples are presented.