Simulations of fiber braided bending actuator: Investigation on position of fiber layer placement and air chamber diameter

Over recent years, studies on soft mechanism are rapidly being paid to attention especially in pneumatic actuator field. The actuator should provide sufficient force and flexibility in movement. The flexibility feature is vital in bending motion which needed in soft robotic actuation. There is no conventional fiber sleeve on single chamber actuator that can offer bending motion. In this paper, a new bending type actuator is introduced which the bending motion can be realized when braided fibers reinforcements on the cylindrical actuator rubber inner layer are formed from two different fiber angles. Two design parameters; position of fiber layer placement and air chamber diameter were varied and simulated to obtain the best specification of the proposed actuator design. The effects given by each design parameter were discussed and the dominant design parameter is also acknowledged from the FEM analysis. Significant bending motion was realized from the best model simulated. Actuator model with largest air chamber diameter and has the outermost position of fiber layer from the center point shows the highest bending capability.