Junghyun Ryu

Engineering design framework for a shape memory alloy coil spring actuator using a static two-state model

A shape memory alloy (SMA) coil spring actuator is fabricated by annealing an SMA wire wound on a rod. Four design parameters are required for the winding: the wire diameter, the rod diameter, the pitch angle and the number of active coils. These parameters determine the force and stroke produced by the actuator. In this paper, we present an engineering design framework to select these parameters on the basis of the desired force and stoke. The behavior of the SMA coil spring actuator is described in detail to provide information about the inner workings of the actuator and to aid in selecting the design parameters. A new static two-state model, which represents a force?deflection relation of the actuator at the fully martensitic state (M100%) and fully austenitic state (A100%), is derived for use in the design. Two nonlinear effects are considered in the model: the nonlinear detwinning effect of the SMA and the nonlinear geometric effect of the coil spring for large deformations. The design process is organized into six steps and is presented with a flowchart and design equations. By following this systematic approach, an SMA coil spring actuator can be designed for various applications. Experimental results verified the static two-state model for the SMA coil spring actuator and a case study showed that an actuator designed using this framework met the design requirements. The proposed design framework was developed to assist application engineers such as robotics researchers in designing SMA coil spring actuators without the need for full thermomechanical models.

More vertical etch profile using a Faraday cage in plasma etching

Scanning electron microscope images of sidewalls obtained by plasma etching of an SiO2 film with and without a Faraday cage have been compared. When the substrate film is etched in the Faraday cage, faceting is effectively suppressed and the etch profile becomes more vertical regardless of the process conditions. This is because the electric potential in the cage is nearly uniform and therefore distortion of the electric field at the convex corner of a microfeature is prevented. The most vertical etch profile is obtained when the cage is used in fluorocarbon plasmas, where faceting is further suppressed due to the decrease in the chemical sputtering yield and the increase in the radical/ion flux on the substrate.

Trajectories of ions inside a Faraday cage located in a high density plasma etcher

Simulation was used to investigate potential distributions around a grid of a Faraday cage and trajectories of ions inside the cage located in a high density CF4 plasma etcher. It was observed that the potential distributions near the edge of the grid openings (or near the grid wires) were disturbed, due to the partial leakage of the plasma through the grid openings whose size was comparable to the sheath thickness. Corresponding trajectories of ions incident through the grid openings near the edge were found to deflect from the surface normal and focus below the grid wires. It is this ion focusing that is responsible for higher etch rates of SiO2 films below the grid wires compared to those below the grid openings at a proper distance between the grid and the substrate surface. When the substrate was located sufficiently far away from the grid plane (8 mm), the ion trajectories overlapped with each other and the etch rates were uniform across the substrate. At the gap of 0.3 mm from the grid plane, however, ion focusing does not play a role due to close proximity to the grid. This resulted in much higher etch rates below the grid openings than those below the grid wires. The etch rates were also measured at various distances between the grid and the substrate surface. The behavior of the simulated distributions of the etch rates showed good agreement with the measured ones.

Curvature tailoring of unsymmetric laminates with an initial curvature

An unsymmetric laminated composite having bi-stability is interesting as a morphing structure because it can sustain large deformation without energy supply and the deformed state is stable. Especially, inducing different curvature values at each stable state is important for the practical application of unsymmetric laminates. In this study, we propose a method for tailoring the curvature of unsymmetric cross-ply laminates by curing the composite on a curved tool plate. The results show that the final normal curvature tensor of unsymmetric laminates is the summation of the tool plate curvature tensor and the normal curvature tensor of the laminates.

Direct pattern etching for micromachining applications without the use of a resist mask

The method of direct pattern etching without the use of a conventional resist mask has been developed. This method takes advantage of the field-shielding effect of a Faraday cage, inside which the substrate is located. A stainless-steel stencil mask, constituting the upper plane of the cage fixed on a cathode in a plasma etcher, was used as a pattern mask in reactive ion etching. A CF4 plasma at 5 mTorr was used to etch the initially bare substrate of a Si wafer covered with a 1-μm-thick blanket SiO2 film. The mask patterns with the minimal dimension of 40 μm were accurately transferred to the substrate with the etch profiles vertical to the substrate surface. When the gap distance between the stencil mask and the substrate surface was as small as 0.5 mm, the ratio of the etch rate below an opening to that below a blocking portion of the mask was over 5600. On the other hand, the etch rate ratio fell virtually to unity when the substrate was apart from the mask by 10.5 mm. The simulation study of ion traj...

Saddle-shaped, bistable morphing panel with shape memory alloy spring actuator

Bistable structures are attractive morphing components because they can transform from one stable state to another simply through the application of an external force or moment. Each stable state is preserved despite the absence of a continuous energy supply. However, its competency is quite limited because most bistable composites (unsymmetric laminated bistable composites) have limited equilibrium shape configurations after curing. Most of them are cylindrical in shape. In this paper, for the first time, we present a saddle-shaped bistable panel that can be used for various soft-morphing applications. The mechanics of the saddle-shaped, bistable panel are investigated using the Rayleigh–Ritz approximation. A simple analytical model is proposed to obtain saddle bistability and deformations. Finite element (FE) numerical analysis is also performed to validate the analytical model approach. The numerical FE analysis shows good correlation with simple analytical solutions. Furthermore, for practical, smart-structure applications of the saddle-shaped bistable panel, the FE method simulated a snap-through action induced by a shape memory alloy (SMA) spring actuator. A simple design criterion for the snap-through action of a saddle composite panel actuated by an SMA spring component is suggested, based on the FE analysis.

Numerical simulation of hybrid composite shape-memory alloy wire-embedded structures

The large recovery force and non-linear deformation behaviour resulting from a change in the temperature in shape-memory alloys (SMAs) make them attractive materials for applications in smart materials and structures, as well as actuators. However, SMAs are limited in their application because they cannot support general loads such as bending or compression. SMA wire-embedded composite materials, where materials such as glass fibre reinforced plastics (GFRPs) are combined with SMAs, are proposed to overcome these limitations. However, the increased stiffness of GFRPs limits the deformation that can be achieved. The inclusion of more compliant materials, such as silicon rubber, into the matrix can improve the achievable deformation, and the characteristics of the resulting hybrid composite can be controlled by varying the conformation of the material. In this study, a numerical simulation method was developed to predict the deformation behaviour of SMA wire-embedded hybrid composites. To verify the simulation procedure, several conformations of SMA wire-embedded hybrid composites were fabricated, and their deformation behaviours were compared with the simulation results. The simulation was then used to achieve a favourable trade-off between the stiffness and the achievable deformation of the structure.

Dual-stiffness structures with reconfiguring mechanism: Design and investigation

To improve the multi-functionality of a structure, a foldable or deployable structure with variable stiffness is needed. This article presents dual-stiffness structures with two stiffness states: a stiff state and a flexible state for a multi-mission capability. This dual-stiffness structure is based on a hybrid structure that combines rigid and flexible segments; when the rigid segments are rearranged, the bending motion of the compliant material is constrained by the rigid segments, which varies the stiffness of the structure. Instead of continuously changing the stiffness, the dual-stiffness structure abruptly changes the stiffness state with a simple reconfiguring mechanism. We developed two reconfiguring mechanisms: a sliding mechanism and a folding mechanism. Using a layering process, the dual-stiffness structure with a two-dimensional multi-layer design was manufactured. To verify the behavior of the structure, a simplified structure with no sliding mechanism was designed and simulated using a finite element method. The ratio of the length of a rigid segment to the length of a compliant segment determined the stiffness of the structure. This dual-stiffness structure with the reconfiguring mechanism can be effective for applications that require a big change in stiffness, such as for a deployable solar panel, or flexible display.

A Study on the Prediction of Elastoplastic Behavior of Carbon Nanotube/Polymer Composites

In this research, a paramteric study to account for the effect of interfacial strength and nanotube agglomeration on the elastoplastic behavior of carbon nanotube reinforced polypropylene composites is performed. At first, the elastoplastic behavior of nanocomposites is predicted from molecular dynamics(MD) simulations. By combining the MD simulation results with the nonlinear micromechanics model based on the Mori-Tanaka model, a two-step domain decomposition method is applied to inversely identify the elastoplastic behavior of adsorption interphase zone inside nanocomposites. In nonlinear micromechanics model, the secant moduli method combined with field fluctuation method is used to predict the elastoplastic behavior of nanocomposites. To account for the imperfect material interface between nanotube and matrix polymer, displacement discontinuity condition is applied to the micromechanics model. Using the elastoplastic behavior of the adsorption interphase zone obtained from the present study, stress-strain relation of nanocomposites at various interfacial bonding condition and local nanotube agglomeration is predicted from nonlinear micromechanics model with and without the adsorption interphase zone. As a result, it has been found that local nanotube agglomeration is the most important design factor to maximize reinforcing effect of nanotube in elastic and plastic behavior.

Deformation characteristics of CFRP bi-stable composites according to negative initial curvature

Deformation characteristic of CFRP bi-stable composites according to negative initial curvature is discussed, and twisted shape bi-stability of CFRP composites is introduced. Initial curvature of composites has effect on final curvature of bistable composites. Positive initial curvature tailor final curvature linearly. However, some negative initial curvature induces twisted shape bi-stability. CFRP laminated composites have three different final state (i.e. conventional shape bistability, mono-stability, and twisted shape bi-stability) according to initial curvature. Twisted shape bi-stable composites have different curvature changing characteristic from conventional shape bi-stable composites. In order to analysis effect of initial curvature, analytical model that include force and moment equilibrium is proposed. FE simulation results and analytical results are compared to verify the proposed analytical model. It is verified that some range of negative initial curvature induce losing of bi-stability or twisted shape bi-stability by analytical model. Final state shape of three different state is analyzed by FE simulation and analytical model. Final states shape from two different analyses are well matched each other in three different state.