Basic Characteristics of a New Flexible Pneumatic Bending Joint

Several typical flexible pneumatic actuators （FPA） and different mechanical models describing their behaviors have been proposed, however, it is difficult to balance compliance and load capacity in conventional designs, and these models still have limitations in predicting behavior of FPAs. A new flexible pneumatic bending joint （FPBJ） with special anisotropic rigidity structure is proposed. The FPBJ is developed as an improvement with regard to existing types of FPA, and its principal characteristic is derived from the special anisotropic rigidity structure. With this structure, the load capacity in the direction perpendicular to bending plane is strengthened. The structure of the new FPBJ is explained and a mathematical model is derived based on Euler-Bernoulli beam model and Hook’s law. To obtain optimum design and usage, some key structure parameters and input-output characteristics are simulated. The simulation results reveal that the relationship between the structure parameters and FPBJ’s bending angle is nonlinear. At last, according to the simulation results, the FPBJ is manufactured with optional parameters and tested. The experimental results show that the joint’s statics characteristics are reflected by the mathematical model accurately when the FPBJ is deflated. The maximum relative error between simulation and experimental results is less than 6%. However, the model still has limitations. When the joint is inflated, the maximum relative error reaches 20%. This paper proposes a new flexible pneumatic bending joint which has sufficient load capacity and compliance, and the mathematical model provides theoretical guidance for the FPBJ’s structure design.

Experimental study and stress analysis of rock bolt anchorage performance

A new method was developed to apply pull-and-shear loads to the bolt specimen in order to evaluate theanchorage performance of the rebar bolt and the D-Bolt. In the tests, five displacing angles （0°, 20°, 40°,60°, and 90°）, two joint gaps （0 mm and 30 mm）, and three kinds of host rock materials （weak concrete,strong concrete, and concrete-granite） were considered, and stressestrain measurements were conducted.Results show that the ultimate loads of both the D-Bolt and the rebar bolt remained constantwith any displacing angles. The ultimate displacement of the D-Bolt changed from 140 mm at the0 displacing angle （pure pull） to approximately 70 mm at a displacing angle greater than 40. Thedisplacement capacity of the D-Bolt is approximately 3.5 times that of the rebar bolt under pure pull and50% higher than that of the rebar bolt under pure shear. The compressive stress exists at 50 mm from thebolt head, and the maximum bending moment value rises with the increasing displacing angle. The rebarbolt mobilises greater applied load than the D-Bolt when subjected to the maximum bending. Theyielding length （at 0） of the D-Bolt is longer than that of the rebar bolt. The displacement capacity of thebolts increased with the joint gap. The bolt subjected to joint gap effect yields more quickly with greaterbending moment and smaller applied load. The displacement capacities of the D-Bolt and the rebar boltare greater in the weak host rock than that in the hard host rock. In pure shear condition, the ultimateload of the bolts slightly decreases in the hard rock. The yielding speed in the hard rock is higher thanthat in the weak rock. 2014 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting byElsevier B.V. All rights reserved.