Bioinspired shape shifting of liquid-infused ribbed sheets

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Soft Matter Physics
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Stimuli-responsive, shape-shifting materials are crucial for soft robotics, aeronautics, and biomedical engineering.
• Current strategies are material-dependent and lack control over transformation reversibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a versatile strategy for reversible or irreversible shape transformations in soft ribbed sheets.
• To achieve precise control over local curvature and enable inverse programming of target shapes.

Main Methods:

• Utilized capillary deformation of architected elastic sheets impregnated with evaporating liquids, inspired by fern sporangium mechanisms.
• Developed an analytical model integrating sheet geometry, material stiffness, and capillary forces.
• Employed a geometric procedure for inverse programming of target shapes with controlled curvature gradients.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated a systematic method for achieving reversible or irreversible shape transformations across various materials.
• Achieved precise control over local curvature and curvature gradients.
• Showcased irreversible transformation via UV-curing of photosensitive solutions, resulting in enhanced mechanical stiffness.

Conclusions:

• The capillary-driven deformation strategy offers a material-agnostic approach to programmable shape-shifting.
• The method allows for tunable reversibility and precise control over complex shape generation.
• The resulting shells exhibit improved mechanical properties, expanding potential applications.