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Computational dynamics of soft machines

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Abstract

Soft machine refers to a kind of mechanical system made of soft materials to complete sophisticated missions, such as handling a fragile object and crawling along a narrow tunnel corner, under low cost control and actuation. Hence, soft machines have raised great challenges to computational dynamics. In this review article, recent studies of the authors on the dynamic modeling, numerical simulation, and experimental validation of soft machines are summarized in the framework of multibody system dynamics. The dynamic modeling approaches are presented first for the geometric nonlinearities of coupled overall motions and large deformations of a soft component, the physical nonlinearities of a soft component made of hyperelastic or elastoplastic materials, and the frictional contacts/impacts of soft components, respectively. Then the computation approach is outlined for the dynamic simulation of soft machines governed by a set of differential-algebraic equations of very high dimensions, with an emphasis on the efficient computations of the nonlinear elastic force vector of finite elements. The validations of the proposed approaches are given via three case studies, including the locomotion of a soft quadrupedal robot, the spinning deployment of a solar sail of a spacecraft, and the deployment of a mesh reflector of a satellite antenna, as well as the corresponding experimental studies. Finally, some remarks are made for future studies.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 11290150 and 11290151).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MOE Key Lab of Dynamics and Control of Flight Vehicles, School of Aerospace Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Haiyan Hu, Qiang Tian & Cheng Liu

Authors
  1. Haiyan Hu
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  2. Qiang Tian
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  3. Cheng Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haiyan Hu.

Additional information

The shortened version of this article was published in Procedia IUTAM as a Sectional Lecture at the 24th International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Montreal, Canada, 2016.

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Hu, H., Tian, Q. & Liu, C. Computational dynamics of soft machines. Acta Mech. Sin. 33, 516–528 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10409-017-0660-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10409-017-0660-0

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