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Liquid metal hydraulics paradigm: Transmission medium and actuation of bimodal signals

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Abstract

In this article, room temperature gallium-based fluids (RTGFs) with unique thermal and conductive properties are proposed as a transmission fluid for the force carrying medium of hydraulics, which rectify the lack of the multi-functional hydraulic roles of liquid metal (LM). The typical physical properties of RTGFs and comparative conventional hydraulic fluids (commercial hydraulic oil and deionized water), such as thermal stability and rheological characteristics, are evaluated. Experimental and numerical methods, then, were adopted to clarify the force transmission performance of RTGFs and commercial hydraulic oils, as well as the influence of temperature fields on the viscosity of fluids. The results disclosed that the advantages of inherent flame resistance, wide liquid temperature range, and the viscosity changing slightly with temperature made RTGFs potential in finding efficient application in the hydraulics as new working fluids. Finally, for illustration, the rigid and flexible actuators driven by RTGFs were designed as hydraulic fluid and demonstrated their capabilities in grasping objects with various shapes and weights, respectively. And the tunable stiffness of such a flexible actuator was enabled via the solid-liquid phase change of LM. Additionally, a frequency-adjustable antenna was manufactured and showcased owing to the introduced transformable electromagnetic behaviors of LM. Overall, the gallium-based LM fluids with thermoelectrical and mechanical multimodal signal medium would serve as a potential candidate for future complex multifunctional signal transmission systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Key Laboratory of Cryo-Biomedical Engineering and Key Laboratory of Cryogenics, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    JunHeng Fu, JianYe Gao, Peng Qin, DongDong Li, ZhongShan Deng & Jing Liu

  2. School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    JunHeng Fu, Peng Qin, ZhongShan Deng & Jing Liu

  3. School of Engineering Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    JianYe Gao & DongDong Li

  4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Jing Liu

  5. Department of Vehicle Engineering, College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, China

    DeHai Yu, Peng Sun & ZhiZhu He

Authors
  1. JunHeng Fu
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  2. JianYe Gao
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  3. Peng Qin
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  4. DongDong Li
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  6. Peng Sun
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  7. ZhiZhu He
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  8. ZhongShan Deng
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  9. Jing Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jing Liu.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 91748206) and Dean’s Research Funding and the Frontier Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as Beijing Municipal Science (Grant No. Z151100003715002).

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Fu, J., Gao, J., Qin, P. et al. Liquid metal hydraulics paradigm: Transmission medium and actuation of bimodal signals. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 65, 77–86 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-021-1900-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-021-1900-x

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