Published Article / This paper explores the manipulation of Van der Waals' forces by geometrical parameters in a micro-material handling system. It was observed that the flat-flat interactive surfaces exerted the highest intensity of Van der Waals' forces followed by cone-flat, cylinder-flat, sphere-flat and sphere-sphere interactive surfaces, respectively. A conical micro-gripper proved to be versatile in manipulating the Van der Waals' forces efficiently in a 'picking up' and 'releasing' mechanism of micro-work parts. It was deduced that the pick-up position should be rough and spherical, and the placement position should be smooth and flat for an effective 'pick-and-place' cycle to be realised.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:cut/oai:ir.cut.ac.za:11462/574 |
Date | January 2010 |
Creators | Van der Merwe, A., Matope, S. |
Contributors | Central University of Technology, Free State, Bloemfontein |
Publisher | Journal for New Generation Sciences, Vol 8, Issue 3: Central University of Technology, Free State, Bloemfontein |
Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
Language | en_US |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Article |
Format | 1 561 199 bytes, 1 file, Application/PDF |
Rights | Central University of Technology, Free State, Bloemfontein |
Relation | Journal for New Generation Sciences;Vol 8, Issue 3 |
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