Multi-Material magnetic field-assisted additive manufacturing system for flexible actuators with programmable magnetic arrangements

doi:10.1007/s11465-024-0788-0

2024, Vol. 19

Issue (2) : 16 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-024-0788-0

Multi-Material magnetic field-assisted additive manufacturing system for flexible actuators with programmable magnetic arrangements

Yujie HUANG^1,², Haonan SUN^1,², Chengqian ZHANG^1,³(

), Ruoxiang GAO^1,², Hongyao SHEN^1,², Peng ZHAO^1,²(

)

¹. The State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
². The Key Laboratory of 3D Printing Process and Equipment of Zhejiang Province, College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
³. Center for X-Mechanics, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

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Abstract

Manufacturing flexible magnetic-driven actuators with complex structures and magnetic arrangements to achieve diverse functionalities is becoming a popular trend. Among various manufacturing technologies, magnetic-assisted digital light processing (DLP) stands out because it enables precise manufacturing of macro-scale structures and micro-scale distributions with the assistance of an external magnetic field. Current research on manufacturing magnetic flexible actuators mostly employs single materials, which limits the magnetic driving performance to some extent. Based on these characterizations, we propose a multi-material magnetic field-assisted DLP technology to produce flexible actuators with an accuracy of 200 μm. The flexible actuators are printed using two materials with different mechanical and magnetic properties. Considering the interface connectivity of multi-material printing, the effect of interfaces on mechanical properties is also explored. Experimental results indicate good chemical affinity between the two materials we selected. The overlap or connection length of the interface moderately improves the tensile strength of multi-material structures. In addition, we investigate the influence of the volume fraction of the magnetic part on deformation. Simulation and experimental results indicate that increasing the volume ratio (20% to 50%) of the magnetic structure can enhance the responsiveness of the actuator (more than 50%). Finally, we successfully manufacture two multi-material flexible actuators with specific magnetic arrangements: a multi-legged crawling robot and a flexible gripper capable of crawling and grasping actions. These results confirm that this method will pave the way for further research on the precise fabrication of magnetic flexible actuators with diverse functionalities.

Keywords multi-material magnetic field-assisted manufacturing digital light processing flexible actuators magnetic arrangement

Corresponding Author(s): Chengqian ZHANG,Peng ZHAO

About author:

#usheng Xing, Yannan Jian and Xiaodan Zhao contributed equally to this work.]]>

Just Accepted Date: 09 April 2024 Issue Date: 30 May 2024

Cite this article:

Yujie HUANG,Haonan SUN,Chengqian ZHANG, et al. Multi-Material magnetic field-assisted additive manufacturing system for flexible actuators with programmable magnetic arrangements[J]. Front. Mech. Eng., 2024, 19(2): 16.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fme/EN/10.1007/s11465-024-0788-0
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fme/EN/Y2024/V19/I2/16

Fig.1 Manufacturing system and magnetic induction intensity simulation: (a) multi-material magnetic field-assisted manufacturing system, (b) manufacturing precision test results, (c) schematic of a Helmholtz coil set (B_a: magnetic field for aligning magnetic particles), and (d) magnetic induction intensity distribution of the X-direction and Z-direction coil sets, simulated by COMSOL^TM Multiphysics.

Tab.1 Main parameters of the Helmholtz coil set

Fig.2 Process flow of multi-material magnetic field-assisted manufacturing.

Fig.3 Experiment on determining process parameters (containing 10, 20, and 30 wt.% NdFeB): (a) photo of samples with different exposure times and particle contents, (b) curing depth of samples with different exposure times and particle contents, and (c) single-layer printing of structures with varying hard magnetic particles. The scale bar: 1000 μm.

Tab.2 Tensile strength of all the specimens tested

Fig.4 Investigation of the tensile strength of interfacial connections between different materials: (a) tensile strength of all specimens tested, (b) stress?strain curves of three different boundary connection geometries, and (c) tensile fracture surfaces of three different boundary connection geometries.

Fig.5 Simulation and experimental results of specimens with unidirectional magnetic arrangement and different volumes of magnetic components: (a) torques on pre-arranged hard magnetic particles under external magnetic field, (b) experimental results under an external magnetic field of 40 mT in the X-direction (without gravity), (c) experimental results under an external magnetic field of 50 mT in the Z-direction (with gravity), (d) model diagram (40 mT, without gravity), (e) simulation results under an external magnetic field of 40 mT in the X-direction (without gravity), (f) comparison curve between experimental and simulation results (40 mT, without gravity), (g) model diagram (50 mT, with gravity), (h) simulation results under an external magnetic field of 50 mT in the Z-direction (with gravity), and (i) comparison curve between experimental and simulation results (50 mT, with gravity).

Fig.6 Manufacturing of two multi-material flexible actuators: (a) structure and magnetization distribution of the multi-legged crawling robot, (b) movement process within the 0?3 s timeframe of the multi-legged crawling robot, (c) structure and magnetization distribution of the gripper, (d) printed flexible gripper structure, (e) deformation simulation under gravity field and external magnetic field of 45 mT, and (f) flexible gripper performs gripping action under a 45 mT uniform magnetic field.

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