Towards a soft magnetoelastic twist actuator

Soft actuators allow external stimuli to transform into mechanical deformations. Because of their deformational response to external magnetic fields, magnetic gels and elastomers are ideal candidates for such tasks. Mostly, linear magnetostrictive deformations, that is, elongations or contractions a...

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Main Authors: Lukas Fischer, Andreas M. Menzel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2020-06-01
Series:Physical Review Research
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.023383
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author Lukas Fischer
Andreas M. Menzel
author_facet Lukas Fischer
Andreas M. Menzel
author_sort Lukas Fischer
collection DOAJ
description Soft actuators allow external stimuli to transform into mechanical deformations. Because of their deformational response to external magnetic fields, magnetic gels and elastomers are ideal candidates for such tasks. Mostly, linear magnetostrictive deformations, that is, elongations or contractions along straight axes, are discussed in this context. In contrast to that, here we propose the concept of a twist actuator that responds by torsional deformations around the axis of an applied magnetic field. For this purpose, we theoretically investigate the overall mechanical response of a basic model system containing discrete magnetizable particles in a soft elastic matrix. Two different types of discrete particle arrangements are used as starting conditions in the nonmagnetized state. These contain globally twisted anisotropic particle arrangements on the one hand, and groups of discrete helical-like particle structures positioned side by side on the other hand. Besides the resulting twist upon magnetization, we also evaluate other modes of deformation. Our analysis supports the construction of magnetically orientable and actuatable torsional mixing devices in fluidic applications or other types of soft actuators that initiate relative rotations between different components.
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spelling doaj.art-081ca1c1b3ec45e89f2e193f1bdfadbc2024-04-12T16:56:00ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642020-06-012202338310.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.023383Towards a soft magnetoelastic twist actuatorLukas FischerAndreas M. MenzelSoft actuators allow external stimuli to transform into mechanical deformations. Because of their deformational response to external magnetic fields, magnetic gels and elastomers are ideal candidates for such tasks. Mostly, linear magnetostrictive deformations, that is, elongations or contractions along straight axes, are discussed in this context. In contrast to that, here we propose the concept of a twist actuator that responds by torsional deformations around the axis of an applied magnetic field. For this purpose, we theoretically investigate the overall mechanical response of a basic model system containing discrete magnetizable particles in a soft elastic matrix. Two different types of discrete particle arrangements are used as starting conditions in the nonmagnetized state. These contain globally twisted anisotropic particle arrangements on the one hand, and groups of discrete helical-like particle structures positioned side by side on the other hand. Besides the resulting twist upon magnetization, we also evaluate other modes of deformation. Our analysis supports the construction of magnetically orientable and actuatable torsional mixing devices in fluidic applications or other types of soft actuators that initiate relative rotations between different components.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.023383
spellingShingle Lukas Fischer
Andreas M. Menzel
Towards a soft magnetoelastic twist actuator
Physical Review Research
title Towards a soft magnetoelastic twist actuator
title_full Towards a soft magnetoelastic twist actuator
title_fullStr Towards a soft magnetoelastic twist actuator
title_full_unstemmed Towards a soft magnetoelastic twist actuator
title_short Towards a soft magnetoelastic twist actuator
title_sort towards a soft magnetoelastic twist actuator
url http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.023383
work_keys_str_mv AT lukasfischer towardsasoftmagnetoelastictwistactuator
AT andreasmmenzel towardsasoftmagnetoelastictwistactuator