About this Abstract |
Meeting |
2025 Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium (SFF Symp 2025)
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Symposium
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2025 Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium (SFF Symp 2025)
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Presentation Title |
Additive Manufacturing of Customizable Soft Actuators With Durable Silicones |
Author(s) |
Roxana M. Carbonell, Martha Leach, Hongtao Song, Carolyn Seepersad |
On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Roxana M. Carbonell |
Abstract Scope |
Soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) are typically made by casting silicone, but casting constrains feasible geometries. Additive manufacturing of silicones solves this challenge, and vat photopolymerization (VPP) of true silicones is an active field of research. However, resulting silicone parts lack the necessary durability, and reinforcing the resins creates extremely high viscosities, making it very challenging to fabricate them using typical VPP methods. To overcome these challenges, two high-viscosity VPP printers have been developed along with a series of durable silicone formulations suitable for VPP. This work presents a method for tuning these novel silicone formulations and SPA geometries to obtain a range of properties that enable a variety of soft actuator behaviors. |
Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: Post-meeting proceedings |