Investigation of Thermoplastic Polyurethane Finger Cushion with Magnetorheological Fluid for Soft-Rigid Gripper

Marcin Białek, Cezary Jędryczka and Andrzej Milecki
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Marcin Białek: Division of Mechatronic Devices, Poznan University of Technology, 60-965 Poznan, Poland
Cezary Jędryczka: Division of Mechatronics and Electrical Machines, Poznan University of Technology, 60-965 Poznan, Poland
Andrzej Milecki: Division of Mechatronic Devices, Poznan University of Technology, 60-965 Poznan, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 20, 1-19

Abstract: This paper presents a study of penetrating a pin into a magnetorheological fluid (MR) cushion focused on the force measurement. The research is supported by detailed finite element analysis (FEA) of the magnetic field distributions in several magnetic field exciters applied to control rheological properties of the MR inside the cushion. The cushion is a part of the finger pad of the jaw soft-rigid gripper and was made of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) using 3D printing technology. For the pin-penetrating setup, the use of a holding electromagnet and a magnetic holder were considered and verified by simulation as well as experiment. In further simulation studies, two design solutions using permanent magnets as the source of the magnetic field in the cushion volume to control MR fluid viscosity were considered. The primary aim of the study was to analyze the potential of using an MR fluid in a cushion pad and to investigate the potential for changing its viscosity using different magnetic field sources. The analysis included magnetic field simulations and tests of pin penetration in the cushion as an imitation of object grasping. Thus, an innovative application of 3D printing and TPU to work with MR fluid is proposed.

Keywords: magnetorheological (MR) fluid; finite element analysis (FEA); soft-rigid gripper; thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU); 3D printing; mechanical engineering (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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