Shape Optimization of Compliant Pressure Actuated Cellular Structures

Biologically inspired pressure actuated cellular structures can alter their shape through pressure variations. Previous work introduced a computational framework for pressure actuated cellular structures that is limited to two cell rows and central cell corner hinges. This article rigorously extends these results by taking into account an arbitrary number of cell rows, a more complicated cell kinematic that includes hinge eccentricities and varying side lengths as well as rotational and axial cell side springs. The nonlinear effects of arbitrary cell deformations are fully considered. Furthermore, the optimization is considerably improved by using a second-order approach. The presented framework enables the design of compliant pressure actuated cellular structures that can change their form from one shape to another within a set of one-dimensional C1 continuous functions. Several examples are used to demonstrate the performance of the proposed framework.