PMID- 33051580
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
DCOM- 20201105
LR  - 20201105
IS  - 2045-2322 (Electronic)
IS  - 2045-2322 (Linking)
VI  - 10
IP  - 1
DP  - 2020 Oct 13
TI  - Bending behavior of biomimetic scale covered beam with tunable stiffness scales.
PG  - 17083
LID - 10.1038/s41598-020-74147-0 [doi]
LID - 17083
AB  - Biomimetic scales provide a convenient template to tailor the bending stiffness 
      of the underlying slender substrate due to their mutual sliding after engagement. 
      Scale stiffness can therefore directly impact the substrate behavior, opening a 
      potential avenue for substrate stiffness tunability. Here, we have developed a 
      biomimetic beam, which is covered by tunable stiffness scales. Scale tunability 
      is achieved by specially designed plate like scales consisting of layers of low 
      melting point alloy (LMPA) phase change materials fully enclosed inside a soft 
      polymer. These composite scales can transition between stiff and soft states by 
      straddling the temperatures across LMPA melting points thereby drastically 
      altering stiffness. We experimentally analyze the bending behavior of biomimetic 
      beams covered with tunable stiffness scales of two architectures-one with single 
      enclosure of LMPA and one with two enclosures of different melting point LMPAs. 
      These architectures provide a continuous stiffness change of the underlying 
      substrate post engagement, controlled by the operating temperature. We 
      characterize this response using three-point bending experiments at various 
      temperature profiles. Our results demonstrate for the first time, the pronounced 
      and reversible tunability in the bending behavior of biomimetic scale covered 
      beam, which are strongly dependent on the scale material and architecture. 
      Particularly, it is shown that the bending stiffness of the biomimetic scale 
      covered beam can be actively and reversibly tuned by a factor of up to 7. The 
      developed biomimetic beam has applications in soft robotic grippers, smart 
      segmented armors, deployable structures and soft swimming robots.
FAU - Tatari, Milad
AU  - Tatari M
AD  - Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, 
      Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
FAU - Kamrava, Soroush
AU  - Kamrava S
AD  - Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, 
      Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
FAU - Ghosh, Ranajay
AU  - Ghosh R
AD  - Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Central 
      Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816, USA.
FAU - Nayeb-Hashemi, Hamid
AU  - Nayeb-Hashemi H
AD  - Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, 
      Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
FAU - Vaziri, Ashkan
AU  - Vaziri A
AD  - Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, 
      Boston, MA, 02115, USA. avaziri2@gmail.com.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20201013
PL  - England
TA  - Sci Rep
JT  - Scientific reports
JID - 101563288
SB  - IM
PMC - PMC7554036
COIS- The authors declare no competing interests.
EDAT- 2020/10/15 06:00
MHDA- 2020/10/15 06:01
PMCR- 2020/10/13
CRDT- 2020/10/14 09:15
PHST- 2019/08/15 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2020/09/16 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2020/10/14 09:15 [entrez]
PHST- 2020/10/15 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2020/10/15 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2020/10/13 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1038/s41598-020-74147-0 [pii]
AID - 74147 [pii]
AID - 10.1038/s41598-020-74147-0 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Sci Rep. 2020 Oct 13;10(1):17083. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-74147-0.