Mr. Seyul Son Profile

Seyul Son

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Publications (4)

Proceedings Article | 28 April 2011 Paper

On a novel self-regulating shape memory polymer composite

Fei Gao, Seyul Son, Kyungmook Park, David Biggs, Courtney Andrews, Eric Mockensturm, Nakhiah Goulbourne

Proceedings Volume 7978, 797816 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.881930

KEYWORDS: Silica, Capillaries, Composites, Glasses, Digital image correlation, Shape memory polymers, Polymers, Microelectromechanical systems, Neodymium, Polyurethane

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Polyurethane shape memory polymers (PU-SMPs) are active materials that can be transformed into complex shapes with the ability to recover their original shape even after undergoing large deformations. Because of their light weight, large recoverability, low cost, and high compliance, SMPs can be potentially employed as actuators, MEMS devices, temperature sensors, and damping elements to name a few. One of the key challenges in implementing SMPs is the response time which is limited by the method of heating and cooling and the material. Unlike shape memory alloys, SMPs can be activated by multiple stimuli including lasers, resistive heating, electric fields, and magnetic fields. While these methods may provide an efficient way of heating the SMP, they rely on the slow process of passive conduction for cooling. In this paper, a self regulating SMP (SR-SMP) composite is introduced, whereby a novel heating and cooling system consisting of embedded silica capillary tubes in the SMP (DiAPLEX® MP4510: SMP Technologies, Inc.) has been developed. The tubes are used to pump hot/cold fluid through the SMP membrane and hence provide a local temperature source. In order to show the effectiveness and efficiency of the mechanism, the thermomechanical response of the SR-SMP is compared experimentally to a SMP with "conventional" i.e. global heating and cooling mechanisms. It is shown that the SR-SMP has a faster thermomechanical response. It has been demonstrated previously that soft SMPs can be controlled by an electric field while in the rubbery phase, thus taking advantage of the Maxwell stress or electrostatic stress effect. Thermomechanical characterization of PU-SMPs is described for different weight percentages of resin (Diphenylmethane-4, 4'-diisocyanate) and hardener (1,4-Butanediol). Varying the percent hardener reduced the effective cross-link density of the polymer and hence the thermomechanical properties. The electromechanical response of pure SMP and SR-SMP is predicted numerically. The numerical computation indicates that the softer SMPs (resin:hardener = 5:4, 8:7, and 9:8) could be used as electroactive polymers.

Proceedings Article | 9 April 2010 Paper

Large deformations of reconfigurable active membranes: a finite element model

Seyul Son, N. Goulbourne

Proceedings Volume 7642, 76421P (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.847301

KEYWORDS: Finite element methods, Chemical elements, Mathematical modeling, Skin, Dielectrics, Actuators, Ions, Motion models, Complex systems, Data modeling

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In this paper, a finite element model is used to describe the inhomogeneous deformations of dielectric elastomers (DE). In our previous work, inhomogeneous deformations of the DE with simple boundary conditions represented by a system of highly nonlinear coupled differential equations (ordinary and partial) were solved using numerical approaches [1-3]. To solve for the electromechanical response for complex shapes (asymmetric), nonuniform loading, and complex boundary conditions a finite element scheme is required. This paper describes a finite element implementation of the DE material model proposed in our previous work in a commercial FE code (ABAQUS 6.8-1, PAWTUCKET, R.I, USA). The total stress is postulated as the summation of the elastic stress tensor and the Maxwell stress tensor, or more generally the electrostatic stress tensor. The finite element model is verified by analytical solutions and experimental results for planar membrane extensions subject to mechanical loads and an electric field: (i) equibiaxial extension and (ii) generalized biaxial extension. Specifically, the analytical solutions for equibiaxial extension of the DE is obtained by combining a modified large deformation membrane theory that accounts for the electromechanical coupling effect in actuation commonly referred to as the Maxwell stress [4]. A Mooney-Rivlin strain energy function is employed to describe the constitutive stress strain behavior of the DE. For the finite element implementation, the constitutive relationships from our previously proposed mathematical model [4] are implemented into the finite element code. Experimentally, a 250% equibiaxially prestretched DE sample is attached to a rigid joint frame and inhomogeneous deformations of the reconfigurable DE are observed with respect to mechanical loads and an applied electric field. The computational result for the reconfigurable DE is compared with the test result to validate the accuracy and robustness of the finite element model. The active membrane is being investigated to simulate the deformation response of the plagiopatagium of bat wing skins for a micro-aerial vehicle.