This study explores the variation in mechanical properties of additively manufactured composite structures for robotic applications with different infill densities and layer heights using fused deposition modelling (FDM). Glass fibre-reinforced polyamide (GFRP), and carbon fibre-reinforced polyamide (CFRP) filaments are used, and the specimens are printed with 20%, 40%, 60% and 100% infill density lattice structures for tensile and three-point bending tests. These printed samples are examined in the microscope to gain more understanding of the microstructure of the printed composites. To characterise the mechanical properties, a set of tensile and three-point bend tests are conducted on the manufactured composite samples. Test results indicate the variations in tensile strength and Young’s modulus of specimens based on the printing parameters and reveal the tensile and bending behaviour of those printed composite structures against varying infill ratios and reinforcing fibres. The experimental findings are also compared to analytical and empirical modelling approaches. Finally, based on the results, the applications of the additively manufactured structure to the robotic components are presented.

Bifurcations organize the dynamics of many natural and engineered systems. They induce qualitative and quantitative changes to a system’s dynamics, which can have catastrophic consequences if ignored during design. In this paper, we propose a general computational method to control the local bifurcations of dynamical systems by optimizing design parameters. We define an objective functional that enforces the appearance of local bifurcation points at targeted locations or even encourages their disappearance. The methodology is an efficient alternative to bifurcation tracking techniques capable of handling many design parameters ( > 10 2 ). The method is demonstrated on a Duffing oscillator featuring a hardening cubic nonlinearity and an autonomous van der Pol-Duffing oscillator coupled to a nonlinear tuned vibration absorber. The finite-element model of a clamped-free Euler–Bernoulli beam, coupled with a reduced-order modelling technique, is also used to show the extension to the shape optimization of more complicated structures. Results demonstrate that several local bifurcations of various types can be handled simultaneously by the bifurcation control framework, with both parameter and state target values.