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Full-Text Articles in Applied Mechanics
Design And Analysis Of A 3d-Printed, Thermoplastic Elastomer (Tpe) Spring Element For Use In Corrective Hand Orthotics, Kevin Thomas Richardson
Design And Analysis Of A 3d-Printed, Thermoplastic Elastomer (Tpe) Spring Element For Use In Corrective Hand Orthotics, Kevin Thomas Richardson
Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering
This thesis proposes an algorithm that determine the geometry of 3D-printed, custom-designed spring element bands made of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) for use in a wearable orthotic device to aid in the physical therapy of a human hand exhibiting spasticity after stroke. Each finger of the hand is modeled as a mechanical system consisting of a triple-rod pendulum with nonlinear stiffness at each joint and forces applied at the attachment point of each flexor muscle. The system is assumed quasi-static, which leads to a torque balance between the flexor tendons in the hand, joint stiffness and the design force applied to …
Creasing Instability Of Hydrogels And Elastomers, Dayong Chen
Creasing Instability Of Hydrogels And Elastomers, Dayong Chen
Doctoral Dissertations
CREASING INSTABILITY OF HYDROGELS AND ELASTOMERS MAY 2014 DAYONG CHEN, B.S., TIANJIN UNIVERISTY M.S., TIANJIN UNIVERSITY M.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Ryan C. Hayward Soft polymers placed under compressive stress can undergo an elastic creasing instability in which sharp folds spontaneously form on the free surfaces. This process may play an important role in contexts as diverse as brain morphogenesis, failure of tires, and electrical breakdown of soft polymer actuators. While the creasing instability has been used for collotype printing since as early as the 1850s, the scientific appreciation of this instability …