Abstract
Self-shaping materials such as shape memory polymers have recently drawn considerable attention owing to their high shape-changing ability in response to changes in ambient conditions, and thereby have promising applications in the biomedical, biosensing, soft robotics and aerospace fields. Their design is a crucial issue of both theoretical and technological interest. Motivated by the shape-changing ability of Towel Gourd tendril helices during swelling/deswelling, we present a strategy for realizing self-shaping function through the deformation of micro/nanohelices. To guide the design and fabrication of self-shaping materials, the shape equations of bent configurations, twisted belts, and helices of slender chiral composite are developed using the variation method. Furthermore, it is numerically shown that the shape changes of a chiral composite can be tuned by the deformation of micro/nanohelices and the fabricated fiber directions. This work paves a new way to create self-shaping composites.
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The project was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2012CB937500), Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (21226005) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11272230 and 11172207), and the Basic Application and Advanced Technology Research Project in Tianjin (11JCYBJC09700).
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Rong, QQ., Cui, YH., Shimada, T. et al. Self-shaping of bioinspired chiral composites. Acta Mech Sin 30, 533–539 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10409-014-0012-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10409-014-0012-2