Chapter 1: 2015 Problem 3: Artificial Muscles

In this solution, we investigate the thermally-actuated artificial muscles made from fishing lines by twist insertion. We give an explanation about the fabrication of the muscle, and illuminate the influences of several parameters during the fabrication process. Based on the properties of polymer, a model is put forward to describe the observed torsional actuation of twisted fiber. A relation between fiber’s torsional actuation and muscle’s tensile actuation is deduced, which proves that the spring-like structure of the muscle plays an important role in the thermal contraction.