Modelling and Fabrication of a Kirigami-Inspired Shape Memory Alloy Actuator

Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) based actuators have increasingly been used in lightweight and compact actuators. In this paper, a novel kirigami-inspired SMA actuator is designed and presented. This work aims to show a novel way of fabricating large stroke flexure-based SMA actuators that can be easily manufactured using laser cutting and 3D printing. In this work, the Q-pattern, which consists of an attractive pattern that uses out-of-plane flexion to create a stretchable metamaterial, is modelled analytically and using the finite element method. Finally, the design methodology is validated by creating a lightweight linear actuator based on the kirigami-inspired SMA active element and a flexure-based biasing element. The fabricated prototype has a total pull force of 2.1 N and a maximum stroke of 5 mm.