Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

SAGETRACK

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rediniotis, O. K.
Right arrow Articles by Khan, M. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Development of a Shape-Memory-Alloy Actuated Biomimetic Hydrofoil

O. K. Rediniotis

L. N. Wilson

D. C. Lagoudas

M. M. Khan

Aerospace Engineering Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA

The development and testing of a biomimetic active hydrofoil that utilizes Shape-Memory-Alloy (SMA) actuator technology is presented. This work is the second stage in the development of a vehicle that has a skeletal structure similar to that of aquatic animals and SMA actuators for muscles. The current work describes the development and testing of a six-segment demonstration vehicle and the control schemes used. Each SMA actuation element consists of a thin wire that joins together two adjacent vertebrae segments of the hydrofoil skeleton and induces relative movement of one with respect to the other. Controlled heating and cooling of the wire sets generates bi-directional rotation of the vertebrae, which in turn causes a change in the shape of the hydrofoil. Each SMA wire is embedded in an elastic water channel that facilitatesfast active SMA cooling via forced water circulation. This hydrofoil was able to deform to several shapes mimicking aquatic animal swimming, with controlled oscillation frequencies of up to 1 Hz, with 1/2 Hz oscillation producing the largest body motion amplitudes.

Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, Vol. 13, No. 1, 35-49 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/1045389X02013001534
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?