在轨气动全柔性触手用材料的成型工艺研究

The preparation of materials for spaceborne pneumatic flexible actuator

根据空间在轨抓捕服务的需求,针对PDMS和E30两种硅橡胶材料开展全柔性触手的材料制备和结构成型工艺研究,分析不同工艺参数对材料硬度及力学性能的影响。结果表明,随着固化温度的升高和固化时间的延长,两种材料的杨氏模量均逐步提高;随着固化剂占比的提高,杨氏模量呈先上升后下降的趋势。在此基础上,分别采用半固化和全固化工艺制备E30/PDMS/E30三明治结构的复合材料,结果表明半固化工艺所得样品具有明显的界面过渡层和较高的拉伸强度,其断裂伸长率达460%,性能优势突出。采用分析所得最佳工艺制备的气动柔性触手样品具有较好的运动特性——当气压为58 500 Pa时,触手的平均卷曲角速度为0.4 rad/s,最大达0.8 rad/s。本工艺研究结果为实现轨道目标物体的捕获提供了新的材料制备方法和思路。

According to the requirement of in-orbit capture of debris and spacecraft, a sort of pneumatic soft actuator is designed and fabricated with two kinds of silicone rubbers, namely, PDMS and E30. With the mass ratio of the curing agent, and the temperature and the duration for the curing process being adjusted, the Young＇s modulus of PDMS and E30 samples is measured for different processing parameters. The interfacial morphology and the tensile property of E30/PDMS/E30 sandwiched sample obtained with different curing sequences are also determined. The composite with the optimized curing procedure exhibits a high tensile strength and a large elongation at break as 460%, due to the transition region formed at the interface. Under the air pressure of 58 500 Pa, the actuator curls up with an average angular velocity of 0.4 rad/s, and a maximum value of 0.8 rad/s. The results provide some guidance for the subsequent control of the pneumatic soft actuator for capturing space objects.