Weicheng Huang

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Verified

Weicheng verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• Doctor of Philosophy
• Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at Newcastle University

Soft robots are primarily composed of soft materials that can allow for mechanically robust maneuvers that are not typically possible with conventional rigid robotic systems. However, owing to the current limitations in simulation, design and control of soft robots often involve a painstaking trial. With the ultimate goal of a computational framewo...

We combine discrete differential geometry (DDG)-based models and desktop experiments to study supercritical pitchfork bifurcation of a pre-compressed elastic plate under lateral end translation, with a focus on its width effect. Based on the ratio among length, width, and thickness, the elastic structures in our study fall into three different stru...

Symmetric snap-through buckling, although both theoretically achievable and practically advantageous, has remained rare in bistable systems, with most studies favoring asymmetric snapping due to its lower energy barrier. Previous observations of symmetric snapping have been limited to high loading rates. In this work, we present a universal strateg...

Flexible elastic structures, such as beams, rods, ribbons, plates, and shells, exhibit complex nonlinear dynamical behaviors that are central to a wide range of engineering and scientific applications, including soft robotics, deployable structures, and biomedical devices. While various numerical methods have been developed to simulate these behavi...

Kirigami, known for its ultra-softness, ultra-lightness, and high stretchability, is at the forefront of research in advanced materials and structural design. However, its inherent flexibility and sensitivity pose significant challenges for mechanical characterization, as conventional rigid-body assumptions are inadequate. Key hurdles include devel...

A symmetrically buckled arch whose boundaries are clamped at an angle has two stable equilibria: an inverted and a natural state. When the distance between the clamps is increased (i.e., the confinement is decreased), the system snaps from the inverted to the natural state. Depending on the rate at which the confinement is decreased (“unloading”),...

Snap-through buckling is widely used in bistable structures for rapid actuation and energy-efficient designs. While gravity is often neglected in traditional slender structures, its impact on heavy hard magnetic elastica (h-HMEs) is significant due to their high-density and ultra-soft matrix, resulting in a large gravity-elastic constant. This stud...

Magnetic soft continuum robots (MSCRs) have emerged as a promising technology for minimally invasive interventions, offering enhanced dexterity and remote-controlled navigation in confined lumens. Unlike conventional guidewires with pre-shaped tips, MSCRs feature a magnetic tip that actively bends under applied magnetic fields. Despite extensive st...

Slender structures, such as rods, often exhibit large deformations even under moderate external forces (e.g., gravity). This characteristic results in a rich variety of morphological changes, making them appealing for engineering design and applications, such as soft robots, submarine cables, decorative knots, and more. Prior studies have demonstra...

Soft robots have garnered significant attention due to their promising applications across various domains. A hallmark of these systems is their bilayer structure, where strain mismatch caused by differential expansion between layers induces complex deformations. Despite progress in theoretical modeling and numerical simulation, accurately capturin...

A symmetrically-buckled arch whose boundaries are clamped at an angle has two stable equilibria: an inverted and a natural state. When the distance between the clamps is increased (i.e. the confinement is decreased) the system snaps from the inverted to the natural state. Depending on the rate at which the confinement is decreased ('unloading'), th...

In this paper, we systematically investigate the stability of an axisymmetric shell and the snap-through eversion induced by indentation through a discrete numerical approach. To capture the intricate interplay between the geometric and boundary nonlinearities during contact actuation, we employ the discrete axisymmetric shell model accompanied by...

Weather survival poses a significant challenge for the utilization of tethered balloons. The dynamic modeling of tethered balloon systems presents challenges due to the flexible nature of the cables and the intricate nature of gust forces. The present study introduces a new approach for modeling near-ground tethered balloon systems, which enables t...

Exploring the design and control strategies of soft robots through simulation is highly attractive due to its cost-effectiveness. Although many existing models (e.g., finite element analysis) are effective for simulating soft robotic dynamics, there remains a need for a general and efficient numerical simulation approach in the soft robotics commun...

Serpentine structures, composed of straight and circular strips, have garnered significant attention as potential designs for flexible electronics due to their remarkable stretchability. When subjected to stretching, these serpentine strips buckle out of plane, and previous studies have identified two distinct buckling modes whose order of appearan...

A snap-through bifurcation occurs when a bistable structure loses one of its stable states and moves rapidly to the remaining state. For example, a buckled arch with symmetrically clamped ends can snap between an inverted and a natural state as the ends are released. A standard linear stability analysis suggests that the arch becomes unstable to as...

Slender structures, such as rods, often exhibit large nonlinear geometrical deformations even under moderate external forces (e.g., gravity). This characteristic results in a rich variety of morphological changes, making them appealing for engineering design and applications, such as soft robots, submarine cables, decorative knots, and more. Prior...

Mechanical interactions between rigid rings and flexible cables find broad application in both daily life (hanging clothes) and engineering system (closing a tether-net). A reduced-order method for the dynamic analysis of sliding rings on a deformable one-dimensional (1D) rod-like object is proposed. In contrast to the conventional approach of disc...

Soft robots utilizing inflatable dielectric membranes can realize intricate functional-ities through the application of non-mechanical fields. However, given the current limitations in simulations, including low computational efficiency and difficulty in dealing with complex external interactions, the design and control of such soft robots often re...

Simulating soft robots offers a cost-effective approach to exploring their design and control strategies. While current models, such as finite element analysis, are effective in capturing soft robotic dynamics, the field still requires a broadly applicable and efficient numerical simulation method. In this paper, we introduce a discrete differentia...

Deformable linear objects (DLOs), such as rods, cables, and ropes, play important roles in daily life. However, manipulation of DLOs is challenging as large geometrically nonlinear deformations may occur during the manipulation process. This problem is made even more difficult as the different deformation modes (e.g., stretching, bending, and twist...

The adaptability of natural organisms in altering body shapes in response to the environment has inspired the development of artificial morphing matter. These materials encode the ability to transform their geometrical configurations in response to specific stimuli and have diverse applications in soft robotics, wearable electronics, and biomedical...

In this paper, we develop an exhaustive numerical simulator for the dynamic visualization and behavior prediction of the tether‐net system during the whole space debris capture phases, including spread, contact, and close. First of all, to perform its geometrically nonlinear deformation, discrete different geometry theory is applied to model the me...

Purpose of review In this review, we briefly summarize the numerical methods commonly used for the nonlinear dynamic analysis of soft robotic systems. The underlying mechanical principles as well as the geometrical treatment tailored for soft robots are introduced with particular emphasis on one-dimensional models. Additionally, the review encompas...

The inflation of hyperelastic thin shells is a highly nonlinear problem that arises in multiple important engineering applications. It is characterised by severe kinematic and constitutive nonlinearities and is subject to various forms of instabilities. To accurately simulate this challenging problem, we present an isogeometric approach to compute...

The present work adopts a Galerkin approach to derive a general weak form of the coupled governing equations for the analysis of piezoelectric semiconductors. Furthermore, the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory is employed to formulate a numerical approach to analyse the coupling behaviour of such piezoelectric semiconductor beams.

Discrete Elastic Rods (DER) method provides a computationally efficient means of simulating the nonlinear dynamics of one-dimensional slender structures. However, this dynamic-based framework can only provide first-order stable equilibrium configuration when combined with the dynamic relaxation method, while the unstable equilibria and potential cr...

Deformable linear objects, such as rods, cables, and ropes, play important roles in daily life. However, manipulation of DLOs is challenging as large geometrically nonlinear deformations may occur during the manipulation process. This problem is made even more difficult as the different deformation modes (e.g., stretching, bending, and twisting) ma...

The inflation of hyperelastic thin shells is an important and highly nonlinear problem that arises in multiple engineering applications involving severe kinematic and constitutive nonlinearities in addition to various instabilities. We present an isogeometric approach to compute the inflation of hyperelastic thin shells, following the Kirchhoff-Lov...

Despite tremendous progress in the development of untethered soft robots in recent years, existing systems lack the mobility, model‐based control, and motion planning capabilities of their piecewise rigid counterparts. As in conventional robotic systems, the development of versatile locomotion of soft robots is aided by the integration of hardware...

In this paper, a flexible tether-net system is applied to capture the space debris and a numerical framework is established to explore its nonlinear dynamic behaviors, which comprises four principal phases: folding, spreading, contacting, and closing. Based on the discretization of the whole structure into multiple nodes and connected edges, elasti...

We introduce a discrete model to predict the buckling instability and the vibration performance of an elastic gridshell which experiences a thermal load. With both thermal stress and temperature-dependent material property considered, a discrete framework for the simulation of hollow grid is developed based on a well-established Discrete Elastic Ro...

Mechanical interactions between rigid rings and flexible cables are widespread in both daily life (hanging clothes) and engineering system (closing a tether net). A reduced-order method for the dynamic analysis of sliding rings on a deformable one-dimensional (1D) rod-like object is proposed. In contrast to discretize the joint rings into multiple...

In this paper, a flexible tether-net system is applied to capture the space debris and a numerical framework is established to explore its nonlinear dynamic behaviors, which comprises four principal phases: folding, spreading, contacting, and closing. Based on the discretization of the whole structure into multiple nodes and connected edges, elasti...

The cover image is based on the Research Article A bottom‐up optimization method for inverse design of two‐dimensional clamped‐free elastic rods by Longhui Qin, Jianxiong Zhu, and Weicheng Huang., https://doi.org/10.1002/nme.6950.

The quasi-static load on composite joints under normal service conditions will be transformed into in-plane impact load that is completely different from the traditional out-of-plane impact load, when the fuselage structure is threatened by dynamic impact load. The mechanical responses and damage mechanisms of bolted and hybrid (bolted/bonded) fibe...

As a typical mechanical structure, ribbons are characterized with three distinctly different dimensions, i.e., length ≫ width ≫ thickness, which leads to their exclusive behaviors different from the one-dimensional (1D) case of slender rods and the two-dimensional (2D) case of thin plates. In this paper, we report a discrete differential geometry (...

Rod‐like structures, such as DNA, climbing plants, and cables, pervade the nature and our daily life and also belong to a frequently encountered engineering problem, which usually assume a deformed shape based on the competition between elasticity (stretching, bending, twisting) and external forces (e.g., gravity). These structures often undergo ge...

A discrete differential geometry (DDG)-based method is proposed to numerically study the natural frequencies of elastic rods and gridshells in their post-buckling configurations. A fully implicit numerical framework is developed based on Discrete Elastic Rods (DER) algorithm, in order to characterize the mechanical behaviors of an elastic gridshell...

In this paper, the nonlinear mechanical response of elastic cable structures under mechanical load is studied based on the discrete catenary theory. A cable net is discretized into multiple nodes and edges in our numerical approach, which is followed by an analytical formulation of the elastic energy and the associated Hessian matrix to realize the...

Motivated by the observations of snap-through phenomena in pre-stressed strips and curved shells, we numerically investigate the snapping of a pre-buckled hemispherical gridshell under apex load indentation. Our experimentally validated numerical framework on elastic gridshell simulation combines two components: (i) Discrete Elastic Rods method, fo...

Flexible micro‐pyramidal capacitive pressure sensors provide a high‐level tunability, showing fascinating implications in various applications, such as advanced healthcare, protheses, and smart robots. In this work, analytical models for capacitive pressure sensors are reported based on micro‐pyramidal electrodes and dielectrics, which are confirme...

Based on the geometrically nonlinear Kirchhoff rod theory, the snap-through behaviors of an asymmetrically clamped ribbon under midpoint loadings are explored through a numerical approach. The pre-compressed elastic ribbon would experience supercritical pitchfork bifurcation and transform into multiple stable/unstable patterns when subjected to lat...

We introduce a numerical framework to study the fluid-structure interaction between two helical filaments rotating under low Reynolds number condition, motivated by the propulsion of bacteria using helical flagella. Our numerical framework couples the elasticity of the thin filaments, nonlocal hydrodynamic loading, and the contact between multiple...

Elastic gridshell is a class of net-like structure formed by an ensemble of elastically deforming rods coupled through joints, such that the structure can cover large areas with low self-weight and allow for a variety of aesthetic configurations. Gridshells, also known as X-shells or Cosserat Nets, are a planar grid of elastic rods in its undeforme...

In this paper, we analyze the inverse dynamics and control of a bacteria-inspired uniflagellar robot in a fluid medium at low Reynolds number. Inspired by the mechanism behind the locomotion of flagellated bacteria, we consider a robot comprised of a flagellum - a flexible helical filament - connected with a spherical head. The flagellum rotates ab...

Soft swimming robots are primarily composed of elastically deformable materials, which typically make up the robot’s body, limbs, and/or fins. Such robots can swim by moving their limbs, flapping their fins, or undulating their body in order to control thrust and direction. This chapter presents a technique to model these soft swimming robots using...

An initially two-dimensional grid of elastic rods may be actuated into a three-dimensional shell-like structure, through buckling, when the end-points of the rods are constrained to a shrunk boundary. The shape of the 3D gridshell is a joint result of elasticity and geometric constraint. We develop a discrete differential geometry-based model of el...

The original version of Fig. 10 is a repetition of Fig. 13 by mistake.

We report a discrete differential geometry-based numerical framework to simulate the rate-independent, elasto-plastic behavior of one dimensional rod-like structures. Our numerical tool first discretizes the rod centerline into a number of nodes and edges in a manner similar to the well-established Discrete Elastic Rods (DER) method – a fast geomet...

We report a numerical method to control the swimming direction by exploiting buckling instability in uniflagellar bacteria and bio-inspired soft robots. Our model system is comprised of a spherical rigid head and a helical elastic flagellum. The rotation of the flagellum in low Reynolds environment generates a propulsive force that allows the syste...

We report a discrete differential geometry-based numerical method for the simulation of geometrically nonlinear dynamics of thick beam — known as Timoshenko beam. Our numerical framework discretizes the beam into a number nodes and uses the degrees of freedom of each node – position and rotation angle – to construct discrete elastic energies. Equat...

Discrete elastic rods (DER) algorithm presents a computationally efficient means of simulating the geometrically nonlinear dynamics of elastic rods. However, it can suffer from artificial energy loss during the time integration step. Our approach extends the existing DER technique by using a different time integration scheme—we consider a second-or...

In this paper, we analyze the inverse dynamics and control of a bacteria-inspired uniflagellar robot in a fluid medium at low Reynolds number. Inspired by the mechanism behind the locomotion of flagellated bacteria, we consider a robot comprised of a flagellum -- a flexible helical filament -- attached to a spherical head. The flagellum rotates abo...