Design of a Biomimetic Skin for an Octopus-Inspired Robot - Part Ⅱ： Development of the Skin Artefact

In order to develop skin artefact for an octopus-inspired robot arm, which is designed to be able to elongate 60% of its original length, silicone nlbber and knitted nylon sheet were selected to manufacture an artificial skin, due to their higher elastic strain and high flexibility. Tensile and scissors cutting tests were conducted to characterise the matrix and reinforcing materials and the skin artefact. Material properties of the individual and the composite materials were compared with the measured properties of real octopus skin presented ill Part I. The Young＇s modulus of the skin should be below 20 MPa and the elastic strain range should be over 60%. The fracture toughness should be at least 0.9 kJ.m 2. Tubes made of the skin artefact filled with liquid were tested to study volume change under deformation. Finite element analysis model was developed to simulate the material and arm structure under tensile loading. Results show that the skin artefact developed has similar mechanical properties as the real octopus skin and satisfies all the design specifications of the OCTOPUS robot.

A new energy-absorbing bolt used for large deformation control of tunnel surrounding rock

In order to control the large deformation of tunnel surrounding rock,a new energy-absorbing bolt is developed.This bolt can be transformed into a rigid support when the deformation of the surrounding rock reaches the length of the sleeve tube,thus preventing the surrounding rock from continuing to deform.Moreover,this bolt has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture and assemble.Then the static tensile test is conducted on the bolt specimen to test its working performance.The test results show that when the cone angle of the cone block is small,the load–displacement curve of the bolt contains three stages;when the cone angle is large,the load–displacement curve contains only two stages.Meanwhile,both the average constant resistance and the maximum absorbed energy increase linearly with the increase of cone angle.On this basis,ignoring the influence of shear stress,and it is supposed that the thickness of the sleeve tube is constant,then the theoretical calculation formula of constant resistance for the new bolt is derived,and the rationality of the formula is verified using the static tensile test results.It is found that the error of the calculated result is less than 15%when the cone angle does not exceed 15.At last,the numerical simulation method is used to analyze the performance of the new bolt.The simulation results indicate that the generation of shear stress and the change of tube thickness during the movement of the cone block are two important factors that cause theoretical errors.

Negative Poisson's ratio and peripheral strain of an NPR anchor cable

Materials with a negative Poisson’s ratio effect perform significantly better than traditional materials for rock mass impact resistance,shear resistance,and energy absorption.Based on these advantages,a negative Poisson’s ratio anchor cable(NPR anchor cable)with high elongation and constant resistance was developed and successfully applied in the field of mine disaster control.However,theoretical and experimental research on the negative Poisson’s ratio effect and peripheral strain characteristics of NPR anchor cables is currently incomplete.This study used several theories and methods,such as static tensile,peripheral strain measurement,and static negative Poisson’s ratio measurement,to investigate the radial deformation law of an NPR anchor cable and the negative Poisson’s ratio characteristics.Experimental results elucidated constant resistance changes in an NPR anchor cable during operation,the motion of the constant resistance body in the constant resistance sleeve,and the deformation law of the constant resistance sleeve.Negative Poisson’s ratio characteristics of the NPR anchor cable and its superior energy absorption characteristics were verified and it provided a theoretical and experimental basis for energy absorption mechanisms of an NPR anchor cable.