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3D-Printed Soft Structure of Polyurethane and Magnetorheological Fluid: A Proof-of-Concept Investigation of its Stiffness Tunability

2019; Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute; Volume: 10; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3390/mi10100655

2072-666X

Seong-Woo Hong, Jiyoung Yoon, Seong-Hwan Kim, Sun-Kon Lee, Yong–Rae Kim, Yu‐Jin Park, Gi‐Woo Kim, Seung‐Bok Choi,

Polymer composites and self-healing

In this study, a soft structure with its stiffness tunable by an external field is proposed. The proposed soft beam structure consists of a skin structure with channels filled with a magnetorheological fluid (MRF). Two specimens of the soft structure are fabricated by three-dimensional printing and fused deposition modeling. In the fabrication, a nozzle is used to obtain channels in the skin of the thermoplastic polyurethane, while another nozzle is used to fill MRF in the channels. The specimens are tested by using a universal tensile machine to evaluate the relationships between the load and deflection under two different conditions, without and with permanent magnets. It is empirically shown that the stiffness of the proposed soft structure can be altered by activating the magnetic field.