Towards Magneto-Sensitive Elastomers Based End-Effectors for Gripping Application Technologies

Abstract

Nowadays, the demands in engineering systems become more challenging and the use of conventional materials for certain applications is not suitable. This issue encourages the investigation of novel and innovative materials in soft robotics field. A promising approach is the consideration of magneto-sensitive elastomers (MSE). These materials enable a useful adaptability responding to their mechanical properties. By applying a static magnetic field, the static and dynamic characteristics can be tuned. However, currently the knowledge about the correlations are not satisfying and the resulting material properties can only be predicted approximately with the use of time-expensive simulations regarding to the nano scale. Therefore, feasible material simulations of the description of the mechanical behavior are necessary. In this paper experimental studies of the influence of a static magnetic field on the mechanical properties and shape adaptability of MSE are presented. Furthermore, based on these results a simulation for the material behavior is executed. These results can be implemented into further simulations for various MSE exemplars.