Design, fabrication, and testing of meso-scale cellular contact-aided compliant mechanisms

Vipul Mehta, Greg Hayes, Mary I. Frecker, James Hansell Adair, George A. Lesieutre

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The design and fabrication of meso-scale cellular contactaided compliant mechanisms with micron sized features are presented in this paper. Cellular structures with internal contact mechanisms exhibit a reduction in stress during deformation and, thus, can be stretched further than they could without a contact mechanism. Fabricating such structures at a meso-scale can result in new high-strength, high-strain materials. Manufacturing at a meso-scale restrains the maximum aspect ratio and the initial contact gap of the mechanism. An analytical model is used to resolve the tradeoffs between these manufacturing constraints and to design suitable contact-aided cellular mechanisms. A lost mold rapid infiltration forming process is employed to fabricate meso-scale cellular mechanisms using either 316L stainless steel or a composite 316L stainless steel with nanoparticulate zirconia. A custom rig was developed to test meso-scale cellular mechanisms. The elastic modulus of 316L stainless steel was found to be about 110±40 GPa both from tensile testing of test bars and from model-matching of cellular mechanisms. The cellular mechanisms were observed to exhibit about 1.1% of overall strain before any local permanent deformation. This study validates the efficacy of the design and fabrication methodology for the meso-scale cellular mechanisms.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationASME 2010 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems, SMASIS 2010
PublisherAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers
Pages387-397
Number of pages11
ISBN (Print)9780791844168
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010
EventASME 2010 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems, SMASIS 2010 - Philadelphia, PA, United States
Duration: Sep 28 2010Oct 1 2010

Publication series

NameASME 2010 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems, SMASIS 2010
Volume2

Other

OtherASME 2010 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems, SMASIS 2010
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPhiladelphia, PA
Period9/28/1010/1/10

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Biomaterials

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