Dynamic stiffness tuning is a promising approach for shape reconfigurable systems that must adapt their flexibility in response to changing operational requirements. Among stiffness tuning technologies, phase change materials are particularly promising because they are size scalable and can be powered using portable electronics. However, the long transition time required for phase change is a great limitation for most applications. In this study, we address this by introducing a rapidly responsive variable rigidity module with a low melting point material and flexible thermoelectric device (f-TED). The f-TED can conduct bidirectional temperature control; thereby, both heating and cooling were accomplished in a single device. By performing local cooling, the phase transition time from liquid to solid is reduced by 77%. The module in its rigid state shows 14.7 × higher bending stiffness than in the soft state. The results can contribute to greatly widening the application of phase transition materials for variable rigidity.

中文翻译：

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具有用于双向温度控制的柔性热电装置的可变刚性模块

动态刚度调整对于形状可重构系统来说是一种很有前途的方法，它必须适应不断变化的操作要求而调整其灵活性。在刚度调整技术中，相变材料特别有前途，因为它们的尺寸可扩展并且可以使用便携式电子设备供电。然而，相变所需的长过渡时间对大多数应用来说是一个很大的限制。在这项研究中，我们通过引入具有低熔点材料和柔性热电装置 (f-TED) 的快速响应可变刚度模块来解决这个问题。f-TED可进行双向温度控制；因此，加热和冷却都在一个设备中完成。通过进行局部冷却，从液体到固体的相变时间减少了 77%。刚性状态的模块显示出比软状态高 14.7 倍的弯曲刚度。结果有助于大大拓宽相变材料在可变刚度方面的应用。