Objectives:

  • To relate frictional and adhesive properties as well as roughness and stiffness of magnetoactive soft materials to their composition.
  • To gain an insight into the underlying physical effects.

Expected Results:

  • Understanding structure-property relationships in the samples, prepared in WP2 by OTH.
  • Providing the data on the material properties for further application of magnetoactive elastomers in the robotics (WP4-6).

Principal Supervisor: 

Prof. Stanislav Gorb, Kiel University (CAU), Germany.

Host Institution: 

Kiel University (CAU), Germany, the Ph.D. degree will be awarded by  Kiel University (CAU), Germany.

Planned Secondments (total: 9 months):

  • Months 13-15 at OTH to gain complementary expertise on sample preparation of magnetoactive materials. Supervisor: Prof. Mikhail Chamonine, Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule (OTH) Regensburg, Germany.
  • Months 22-24 at SDU to gain expertise for integration of developed materials into robotic applications. Supervisor: Prof. Poramate Manoonpong, University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Denmark.
  • Months 28-30 at WEG to gain industrial experience on using the characterized materials for gripping applications. Supervisor: Dr. Stephan Ulrich, Wegard GmbH (WEG), Germany.