Ambient Pressure-Driven Actuators and Shape-Morphing Metamaterials
Abstract
Actuators which change shape in response to ambient pressure have great potential for use in extreme environments, from space to the deep ocean. Bi-layer actuators have so far not been explored to this end, despite their lightness and mechanical simplicity (there is no requirement for a separate power source or pump, for example) making them ideal for applications where transport and maintenance are difficult. In this paper, foam-based bilayer actuators powered by ambient pressure change have been constructed, modelled mathematically, characterised in terms of their actuating force, and built into deployable devices and metamaterial structures to showcase properties such as negative pressure expansivity. Actuators such as these are ideally suited for a range of applications, from deploying solar panels and sensors in space and extra-terrestrial atmospheres, to under-sea expandable structures and sensing.
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BibTeX
@misc{holdstock2026ambient,
title = {{Ambient Pressure-Driven Actuators and Shape-Morphing Metamaterials}},
author = {Benjamin Holdstock and Robert Trowbridge and Alexander W. Powell and Julian Monsalve Londono},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2607.18982},
eprint = {2607.18982},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.18982},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Ambient Pressure-Driven Actuators and Shape-Morphing Metamaterials
AU - Benjamin Holdstock
AU - Robert Trowbridge
AU - Alexander W. Powell
AU - Julian Monsalve Londono
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2607.18982
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.18982
AB - Actuators which change shape in response to ambient pressure have great potential for use in extreme environments, from space to the deep ocean. Bi-layer actuators have so far not been explored to this end, despite their lightness and mechanical simplicity (there is no requirement for a separate power source or pump, for example) making them ideal for applications where transport and maintenance are difficult. In this paper, foam-based bilayer actuators powered by ambient pressure change have been constructed, modelled mathematically, characterised in terms of their actuating force, and built into deployable devices and metamaterial structures to showcase properties such as negative pressure expansivity. Actuators such as these are ideally suited for a range of applications, from deploying solar panels and sensors in space and extra-terrestrial atmospheres, to under-sea expandable structures and sensing.
ER -