Journal: Smart Materials and Structures

Abbreviation

Smart Mater. Struc.

Publisher

The Electrochemical Society

Journal Volumes

ISSN

1361-665X
0964-1726

Description

Filters

2021 - 20222
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Publications 1 - 2 of 2
  • A 4D printed active compliant hinge for potential space applications using shape memory alloys and polymers
    Item type: Journal Article
    Testoni, Oleg; Lumpe, Thomas; Huang, Jian-Lin; et al. (2021)
    Smart Materials and Structures
    This paper presents the proof-of-concept for a 4D printed active compliant hinge with a selectively variable stiffness for the deployment and reorientation of satellite appendages. We use 4D printing to create an active compliant hinge capable of bending to a given angular position, holding the position without consuming energy and reorienting itself multiple times in a slow and controlled manner without using rigid mechanisms and, therefore, requiring no lubrication. The deployment and the reorientation of the hinge are achieved by exploiting thermally induced stiffness modulation of one of the constituting materials and two antagonistic shape memory alloy actuators. The hinge is specifically designed for the case study of a 6U CubeSat with two orientable solar panels. In this work, we first explain the working principle of the hinge and propose three different actuation strategies to increase the energy collection of the considered CubeSat. Second, we describe the specific functional and geometric requirements of the hinge, the resulting design and the fabricated functional prototype. The latter is tested in a standard laboratory environment to measure the range of motion, the energy consumption and the actuation time. Finally, the feasibility of the three proposed actuation strategies is evaluated considering the corresponding net increase in collected energy. The results show that the hinge is compatible with the stowing requirements and capable of achieving maximum angular positions larger than 90° in both directions and holding any intermediate position with an accuracy of less than 3°. The three actuation strategies considered lead, in a standard laboratory environment, to an increase in energy generation between 54% and 72%.
  • Integration of piezoelectric stacks in components using powder bed fusion
    Item type: Journal Article
    Weber, Rico; Seydel, Samuel; Spierings, Adriaan; et al. (2022)
    Smart Materials and Structures
    Laser-based powder bed fusion of metals (PBF-LB/M) is the most commonly used additive manufacturing process for fabricating complex metal parts by selective, layer-wise melting of metallic powder using a laser beam. This manufacturing technique can easily fabricate parts with complex geometries that cannot be fabricated using conventional manufacturing processes. These parts with complex geometries are generally used by aerospace and space industries, and advancement in functionalization of additive manufactured parts is highly beneficial to these industries. However, the parts constructed using additive manufacturing are monolithic, stiff, and lightweight and hence, they are vulnerable to high amplitude resonant vibrations. This is due to the low damping factor of the materials used and the absence of interfaces and connections that contribute to structural damping in conventional structures. The integration of piezoelectric materials within these structures would enable the control of vibration characteristics. The techniques presented in this study will enable a high level of freedom in the placement of piezoelectric materials and investigate the potential of merging parts constructed using additive manufacturing with piezoelectric materials. Furthermore, a technique to track the stress state during the integration process, which is crucial for the pre-stress evaluation of integrated piezoelectric stacks, is presented and shows characteristics similar to a force cell. Pre-stress is successfully tracked during integration and in some concepts tensile stress onto the piezoelectric material is occurring. Finally, to verify the functionality for potential piezoelectric damping, power conversion was reported with laser vibrometer measurements and FE validation.
Publications 1 - 2 of 2