Evaluation of FDM-Printed Soft Pneumatic Actuators in TPU

Abstract

This work investigates the mechanical performance of soft pneumatic actuators fabricated using TPU 95A material via Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) for industrial applications. The study focuses on the influence of wall thickness and infill density on the pressure resistance of the actuators. Nine pneumatic chambers with varying wall thicknesses (1 mm, 2 mm, and 3 mm) and infill densities (30%, 50%, and 100%) were tested under high-pressure conditions. The experimental results indicate that increasing the wall thickness generally enhances pressure resistance; however, lower infill densities (30%) surprisingly demonstrated the highest resistance. Computational simulations using the Finite Element Method (FEM) corroborated these findings, revealing that increased wall thickness significantly improves structural integrity. At the same time, the influence of higher infill density diminishes near the 100% threshold. These results provide valuable insights into optimizing FDM-printed pneumatic components for industrial use, contributing to the advancement of soft robotics.