Energy-Efficient Compliant Structures with Functional Spring-Damper-Characteristics

通常，振动和急速运动在技术系统中是不受欢迎的，因为一方面是动态载荷的增加，另一方面是不同的传动特性。在工程中，特别是在医疗和汽车工程中，经常使用具有线性或非线性特性的弹簧、阻尼器和弹簧-阻尼器装置来实现补偿。除了补偿之外，假体、机器、设备和车辆中的这种装置还提供了对通过偏转和速度进行传输的依赖性。目前，复杂的弹簧阻尼器装置与执行器、传感器和控制算法相结合，以达到挠度和速度的相关性。这一研究项目的重点是对具有功能材料的被动、柔顺结构进行基础研究，这种结构可以产生与挠度和速度相关的类似行为，如复杂的有源器件。与智能材料(智能材料)相比，功能材料一词概括了被动改变性能的材料，这意味着改变不需要额外的能量。该项目的目的是设计具有功能性弹簧阻尼器特性的柔顺结构，以适应不断变化的环境条件，而不需要任何额外的能源，以使系统节能和节约资源。这应该通过正常弹簧和柔顺结构的组合来完成，这些结构填充了功能材料。因此，将建立新的节能元件，以降低传统设备的复杂性、所需安装位置、重量和功率需求。这些新的元件和设备只以机械的方式和节能的方式适应不断变化的环境条件。研究具有载荷相关特性(挠度、速度或温度)的功能材料的基本原理和有目的的几何设计是能效元件自适应行为的基础。寄生热(摩擦产生的热)或外部热源(改变环境温度)是实现温度依赖特征的可能性。在第一个项目阶段，对所用功能材料的速度依赖行为进行了建模和实验研究，目前正在进行的工作是对温度依赖属性的建模和研究。为了验证节能、符合要求的结构中的功能弹簧阻尼器特性，将建立并测试演示程序。

Usually vibrations and jerky movements are undesirable in technical systems because of an increasing of dynamic loads on the one hand and different transmission properties on the other hand. In engineering, especially medical and automotive engineering, compensation is often achieved using springs, dampers and spring-damper devices with linear or non-linear characteristics. Additionally to compensation, such devices in prostheses, machines, apparatus and vehicles provide a dependency of transmission by deflection and velocity. Currently complex spring-damper devices are combined with actuators, sensors and control algorithms to reach a deflection and velocity dependency. The focus of this research project is the fundamental investigation of passive, compliant structures with functional materials, which yield comparable deflection- and velocity-dependent behavior such as complex active devices. In contrast to intelligent materials (smart materials) the term functional material summarizes materials with passively changing properties, meaning that no additional energy is needed for the change. The purpose of the project is to design compliant structures with functional spring-damper characteristics adapting to changing environmental conditions without the need of any additional energy to make systems energy-efficient and to save resources. This should be done by a combination of normal springs and compliant structures, which are filled with a functional material. Consequently, new energy-efficient elements will be built up to reduce the complexity, the required installation place, the weight and the power demand of conventional devices. These new elements and devices adapt in only a mechanical way and energy-efficient to changing environmental conditions. Investigating in fundamentals of functional materials with load-dependent properties (deflection, velocity or temperature) and purposeful geometrical design is the basis for an adaptive behavior of energy-efficient elements. Parasitic heat (heat due to friction) or external heat sources (changing ambient temperature) are possibilities to realize temperature-dependent features. Ongoing work to the first project period, where the velocity-dependent behavior of the used functional materials was modeled and experimentally investigated, is the modeling and the investigation of the temperature-dependent properties. For verification of functional spring-damper properties in energy-efficient, compliant structures demonstrators will be built up and tested.