Study on Simulation of Bending Angle Deformation of Compliant Actuators Made of Silicone Material

Compliant actuators have recently become popular and widely used because of their low manufacturing cost and flexible operating mechanism. It easily changes shape to accommodate different shapes of objects to be grasped, captured and held. Industrial robots in traditional automated production lines often use rigid linkages to grasp, capture and hold objects. However, this rigid working structure is difficult to grasp objects with small size, fragile, and with large deformation because it possesses bulky construction and has poor flexibility. To grasp, capture or hold these objects more easily and securely, the researchers have developed compliant actuators that aim to increase the flexibility of the device. This paper deals with simulating the influence of the shape and section of the flexible actuator on the curvature (or bending angle) of the mechanism under the influence of input pressure at different levels. Simulation results based on Abaqus software have shown that the bending angle of the mechanism is proportional to the applied pressure, the higher the pressure, the greater the bending angle of the structures, this is true for all three actuators; with the same level of inlet pressure, a device with a hemicircular cross-section has the greatest bending angle, then a circular section and finally a device with a rectangular cross-section. This result will be the basis for designing and manufacturing the compliant actuator in the next research.