Soft Deployable Structures via Core-Shell Inflatables.

Area of Science:

• Soft Matter Physics
• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Robotics

Background:

• Deployable structures in nature, like insect wings, often utilize biological growth for reconfiguration.
• Engineered deployable systems typically rely on articulated rigid components.
• Soft structures capable of growth-driven deployment remain largely unexplored in engineering.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the physics of soft deployable structures using core-shell inflatables.
• To develop formal models for predicting and controlling the deployment and reconfiguration of these soft structures.
• To demonstrate the potential of core-shell inflatables as building blocks for complex, reconfigurable systems.

Main Methods:

• Experimental investigation of core-shell inflatable cylinders undergoing expansion.
• Derivation of a Maxwell construction to model hyperelastic core-rigid shell interactions.
• Development of models for single actuated elements behaving as pressure-dependent elastic beams.
• Generalization to three-dimensional elastic gridshell structures.

Main Results:

• Identified a strategy for achieving synchronized deployment in soft networks.
• Demonstrated that single actuated elements exhibit pressure-dependent bending stiffness, enabling shape control.
• Successfully modeled and demonstrated the assembly of complex 3D elastic gridshells using core-shell inflatables.

Conclusions:

• Core-shell inflatables offer a viable pathway for creating low-energy, reconfigurable soft deployable structures.
• The developed models provide a framework for understanding and designing complex soft robotic systems.
• This approach bridges biological principles of growth and reconfiguration with engineering applications.