Hofmeister-Effect-Driven Hybrid Glycerogels for Perfect Wide-Temperature Shape Fixity and Shape Recovery in Soft Robotics Applications.

Shape memory gels have emerged as crucial elements in soft robotics, actuators, and biomedical devices; however, several problems persist, like the trade-off between shape fixity and shape recovery, and the limited temperature range for their application. This article introduces a new class of shape memory hybrid glycerogels (GGs) designed to address these limitations. The well-modulated internal structure of the GGs, facilitated by the Hofmeister salting-out effect, strategically incorporates a higher crystallite content, abundant crosslinking points, and a high elastic modulus. Unlike reported shape memory gels, the GG exhibits a perfect triple-step shape memory behavior in air with 100% shape fixity in a wide programming temperature range (75-135 °C) and simultaneously achieves 100% shape recoverability. The gel recovers its shape at -40 °C under near-infrared light across a wide programming temperature range (25-135 °C), showing unexpected initiation even at subzero temperatures. Inspired by the mechanics of composite structures, a method is proposed to integrate the GG seamlessly with a shape memory alloy, which further expands the temperature range that yields perfect shape memory properties. Finally, two light-controlled fluttering and crawling soft robot prototypes are engineered to illustrate the versatility and potential applications of the composite gel in soft robotics.

Buckling-induced wavy optical fiber attenuator.

An optical attenuator is an optical device that can modulate the power level of an optical signal. Based on the macro-bending loss of optical fibers, we present a wavy fiber attenuator where the attenuation level can be controlled by a mechanical-induced buckling of the fiber. By bonding a fiber to a prestretched substrate and then releasing the prestrain, the fiber flexes into a sinusoidal wavy curve due to the constraints of the substrate. The level of the light attenuation can simply be controlled by stretching the substrate. The maximum attenuation of the proposed wavy optical fiber attenuator is -87.3 dB.

Modeling Full-Field Transient Flexural Waves on Damaged Plates with Arbitrary Excitations Using Temporal Vibration Characteristics.

We propose an efficient semi-analytical method capable of modeling the propagation of flexural waves on cracked plate structures with any forms of excitations, based on the same group of vibration characteristics and validated by a non-contact scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV) system. The proposed modeling method is based on the superposition of the vibrational normal modes of the detected structure, which can be applied to analyze long-time and full-field transient wave propagations. By connecting the vibration-based transient model to a power flow analysis technique, we further analyze the transient waves on a cracked plate subjected to different excitation sources and show the influence of the damage event on the path of the propagating waves. The experimental results indicate that the proposed semi-analytical method can model the flexural waves, and through that, the crack information can be revealed.

Spectral shaping of fiber Bragg gratings based on non-rigid origami.

We present a spectrum-tunable fiber Bragg grating (FBG) based on a unique compress-twist deformation mode of non-rigid origami. By applying axial displacement on the FBG-bonded Kresling-ori, a non-uniform strain field emerges. The mechanics-induced non-uniform strain can shift the wavelength of an apodized unchirped FBG and/or transform an apodized unchirped FBG to a chirped one. For the spectrum-shaping mode, the bandwidth of the FBG was tuned from 0.32 nm up to 2.9 nm, measured at the -6dB level. For the wavelength-shift mode, a maximum wavelength shift of 0.6 nm can be achieved.

Simultaneous measurement of dynamic displacement and strain in a single fiber using coarse wavelength-division multiplexing and fiber Bragg-grating filter-based sensing system.

Displacement and strain, two of the most important physical quantities in experimental solid mechanics, are seldomly measured simultaneously in a single experimental configuration. In order to provide and improve corresponding sensing techniques, an experimental setup system for simultaneous measurement of dynamic displacement and strain on a flexible cantilever beam using two fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) in a single fiber is proposed. To realize high-speed multiplexing and demodulation, a configuration incorporating a coarse wavelength-division multiplexing (CWDM) technique and an FBG transmission filter is implemented. The cantilever beam is subjected to steel-ball impact from which the dynamic multipoint displacement/strain sensing performances of the CWDM and FBG filter-based sensing system are demonstrated. Experimental results in temporal and frequency domain are compared with those obtained by the finite element method (FEM) predictions based on identification of the impact-loading history. A noncontact Fotonic displacement sensor and a polyvinylidene-fluoride film (PVDF) strain sensor are also used for comparison. With transient and resonant frequency simulations conducted by the FEM, loading effects of the sensing system are examined. The results obtained in this study indicate that the proposed CWDM and FBG filter-based sensing system is capable of performing simultaneous multipoint displacement/strain measurements in a single fiber with large bandwidth, high sensitivity, and low intensity loss.

Investigation of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films in identifying high-frequency vibration modes of flexible plates.

Compared with piezoelectric ceramics such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics, the low density and high compliance of the PVDF films make them a more suitable choice in modal testing, especially for detecting high-frequency modes in flexible or inflatable structures. In this work, dynamic sensing performances of PVDF films for flexible structures in modal testing are examined, with considerations including the repeatability of the impact source, the accuracy of the sensing responses, and the influences of the nodal lines on the frequency spectra of the transient responses. Two flexible plates with different boundary conditions and thickness are considered. Experimental results, compared with FEM computations or theoretical predictions, demonstrate the excellent dynamic sensing performance of the PVDF film in modal testing applications, especially for identification of high-frequency modes on flexible structures.

Experimental investigation of the cross-sensitivity and size effects of polyvinylidene fluoride film sensors on modal testing.

Due to advantages such as light weight, flexibility, and low cost, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films have been widely used in engineering applications as sensors for detecting strain, pressure, or micro-force. However, it is known that PVDF strain sensors have strain cross-sensitivity in mutually orthogonal directions. Furthermore, the size of the PVDF film sensor would also affect the dynamic strain sensing performance. In this paper, to investigate the cross-sensitivity and size effects experimentally, we employ PVDF film sensors to perform dynamic measurements on a cantilever beam. Since the vibrations of the cantilever beam are excited by impacts of a steel ball, the induced highly repeatable transient responses contain a wide range of resonant frequencies and thus can be used to investigate both the size and cross-sensitivity effects of the PVDF film sensors in a dynamic sensing environment. Based on the experimental results of the identified resonant frequencies compared with results obtained from a strain gauge, finite element calculations, and theoretical predictions, suggestions for the use of the PVDF strain sensor in modal testing are given in this paper.

Active suppression of a beam under a moving mass using a pointwise fiber Bragg grating displacement sensing system.

This paper investigates active vibration control of a beam under a moving mass using a pointwise fiber Bragg grating (FBG) displacement sensing system. Dynamic responses of the proposed FBG displacement sensor are demodulated with an FBG filter and verified with measurement results obtained from a noncontact fiber-optic displacement sensor. System identification of the beam is first performed with a piezoceramic actuator and positive position feedback (PPF) controllers are designed based on the identified results. Then, transient responses of the beam under a moving mass with different moving conditions are measured using the FBG displacement sensor. A high-speed camera is used to detect the speed of the moving mass for further discussions about its influence on the transient response. Finally, active vibration control of the beam under the moving mass is performed and fast Fourier transform (FFT) as well as short-time Fourier transform (STFT) are employed to demonstrate control performances. For the case in which a rolling steel ball is directed from a slide to the beam to generate the moving mass, reductions of the vibration up to 50% and 60% are achieved in the frequency domain for the first and second modes of the beam, respectively. Based on the control experiments on the smallscale beam, results in this work show that the proposed FBG displacement sensing system can be used in research on the moving mass problem.

Performance analysis of a fiber Bragg grating filter-based strain/temperature sensing system based on a modified Gaussian function approximation method.

This paper analyzes the performance of a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) filter-based strain and/or temperature sensing system based on a modified Gaussian function (MGF) approximation method. Instead of using a conventional Gaussian function, we propose the MGF, which can capture the characteristics of the sidelobes of the reflected spectrum, to model the FBG sensor and filter. We experimentally demonstrate that, by considering the contributions of the sidelobes with the MGF approximation method, behaviors of the FBG filter-based FBG displacement and/or temperature sensing system can be predicted more accurately. The predicted behaviors include the saturation, the sensitivity, the sensing range, and the optimal initial Bragg wavelengths of the FBG sensing system.

Polyvinylidene fluoride film sensors in collocated feedback structural control: application for suppressing impact-induced disturbances.

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films are light, flexible, and have high piezoelectricity. Because of these advantages, they have been widely used as sensors in applications such as underwater investigation, nondestructive damage detection, robotics, and active vibration suppression. PVDF sensors are especially preferred over conventional strain gauges in active vibration control because the PVDF sensors are easy to cut into different sizes or shapes as piezoelectric actuators and they can then be placed as collocated pairs. In this work, to focus on demonstrating the dynamic sensing performance of the PVDF film sensor, we revisit the active vibration control problem of a cantilever beam using a collocated lead zirconate titanate (PZT) actuator/PVDF film sensor pair. Before applying active vibration control, the measurement characteristics of the PVDF film sensor are studied by simultaneous comparison with a strain gauge. The loading effect of the piezoelectric actuator on the cantilever beam is also investigated in this paper. Finally, four simple, robust active vibration controllers are employed with the collocated PZT/PVDF pair to suppress vibration of the cantilever beam subjected to impact loadings. The four controllers are the velocity feedback controller, the integral resonant controller (IRC), the resonant controller, and the positive position feedback (PPF) controller. Suppression of impact disturbances is especially suitable for the purpose of demonstrating the dynamic sensing performance of the PVDF sensor. The experimental results also provide suggestions for choosing between the previously mentioned controllers, which have been proven to be effective in suppressing impact-induced vibrations.

Dynamic sensing performance of a point-wise fiber Bragg grating displacement measurement system integrated in an active structural control system.

In this work, a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing system which can measure the transient response of out-of-plane point-wise displacement responses is set up on a smart cantilever beam and the feasibility of its use as a feedback sensor in an active structural control system is studied experimentally. An FBG filter is employed in the proposed fiber sensing system to dynamically demodulate the responses obtained by the FBG displacement sensor with high sensitivity. For comparison, a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) is utilized simultaneously to verify displacement detection ability of the FBG sensing system. An optical full-field measurement technique called amplitude-fluctuation electronic speckle pattern interferometry (AF-ESPI) is used to provide full-field vibration mode shapes and resonant frequencies. To verify the dynamic demodulation performance of the FBG filter, a traditional FBG strain sensor calibrated with a strain gauge is first employed to measure the dynamic strain of impact-induced vibrations. Then, system identification of the smart cantilever beam is performed by FBG strain and displacement sensors. Finally, by employing a velocity feedback control algorithm, the feasibility of integrating the proposed FBG displacement sensing system in a collocated feedback system is investigated and excellent dynamic feedback performance is demonstrated. In conclusion, our experiments show that the FBG sensor is capable of performing dynamic displacement feedback and/or strain measurements with high sensitivity and resolution.

Tracking control of a multilayer piezoelectric actuator using a fiber bragg grating displacement sensor system.

This paper provides a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor system which can measure the point-wise, out-of-plane displacement to examine the position-tracking control problem of a multilayer piezoelectric actuator (MPA). An FBG filter-based wavelength-optical intensity modulation technique is used in this study. A nominal system model is identified experimentally from the responses excited by random signals measured by an FBG displacement sensor that are simultaneously compared with those obtained from a laser Doppler vibrometer. To further investigate the sensing ability of the proposed system in a feedback control problem, control strategies including robust H(infinity) control, proportional-integralderivative control, and pseudoderivative feedback control are implemented. The characteristics of the step responses for each controller are examined. The experimental results show that the proposed sensor system is capable of performing the system identification and can serve as a feedback control sensor which has a displacement sensitivity of 5 mV/nm.

Pointwise fiber Bragg grating displacement sensor system for dynamic measurements.

A method for setting up a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor which can measure the pointwise, out-of-plane or in-plane dynamic displacement is proposed. The proposed FBG sensor is reusable. A multiplexing demodulation system based on a single long-period fiber grating is used in this study. The experimental results of the steady-state motion for a multilayer piezoelectric actuator and the dynamic response of a cantilever beam subjected to impact loadings are presented. These results indicate that the proposed displacement sensor has the ability to measure the out-of-plane dynamic displacement with high sensitivity. Measurements for a piezoceramic plate excited by high frequency show that the proposed displacement sensor also has the ability to provide the in-plane dynamic displacement up to 20 kHz.