Flexure of functionally graded soft material rectangular beams into circular arcs

Soft materials like tissues, prosthetics, gels and rubber are usually modeled as incompressible hyperelastic. The use of these in soft robotics surgical implants necessitates analysis their finite deformations. We study here plane-strain flexural deformations functionally graded, isotropic Mooney-Rivlin rectangular beams into circular arcs by using a member Ericksen’s family universal solutions to describe large from the reference current configuration that satisfies Euler-Bernoulli hypothesis vanishing transverse shear strain. account for both material all geometric nonlinearities, assume an arbitrary continuous variation properties thickness direction. Analytical provided beam bent nearly complete circle help determine residual stresses beam. It is found gradations remarkably affect magnitudes required bending moment radial hoop stresses. By suitably grading parameters, through-the-thickness stress distributions can be modified have maximum magnitude occur at interior point rather than outer/inner surfaces. Thus, one control location where first failure occurs appropriately tailoring gradation.