Three-dimensional helical-artificial-fibrous-muscle structured tubular soft actuator, manufacturing method therefor and application thereof

Abstract

Provided is a three-dimensional (3D) helical-artificial-fibrous-muscle structured tubular soft actuator (HAFMS-TSA), a manufacturing method therefor and an application thereof. Fibrous liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) oligomers with weak crosslinked networks formed through chemical crosslinking reactions are mechanically oriented and stretched. The stretched fibrous LCE oligomers are winded onto a 3D mandrel for secondary assembly, then a 3D helical fibrous architecture is obtained, and the contacted fibrous LCE oligomers are bonded through chemical crosslinking reactions. The 3D helical tubular soft actuator is obtained after removing the mandrel. Multimodal reversible deformations of the 3D HAFMS-TSA upon external stimuli can be achieved by adjusting and controlling winding angles, formulations of liquid crystal materials and stretching ratios of the fibers. Advantages of well-defined degrees of design freedom and programmable-adaptive 3D deformations are achieved. The technology has wide application prospects in the fields of interactive soft robots, soft pumps, artificial muscles, bionic intelligent systems, etc.