{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]],"date-time":"2026-02-28T18:18:52Z","timestamp":1772302732794,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,8]],"date-time":"2025-01-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1736294400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)","award":["eSUDOE 2021\u20132027"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["eSUDOE 2021\u20132027"]}]},{"name":"European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)","award":["UIDB\/00151\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/00151\/2020"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia (FCT), C-MAST (Centre for Mechanical and Aerospace Science and Technologies)","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["eSUDOE 2021\u20132027"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["eSUDOE 2021\u20132027"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia (FCT), C-MAST (Centre for Mechanical and Aerospace Science and Technologies)","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UIDB\/00151\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/00151\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Materials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study investigates the mechanical properties of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) 60A, which is a flexible material that can be used to produce soft robotic grippers using additive manufacturing. Tensile tests were conducted under ISO 37 and ISO 527 standards to assess the effects of different printing orientations (0\u00b0, 45\u00b0, \u221245\u00b0, 90\u00b0, and quasi-isotropic) and test speeds (2 mm\/min, 20 mm\/min, and 200 mm\/min) on the material\u2019s performance. While the printing orientations at 0\u00b0 and quasi-isotropic provided similar performance, the quasi-isotropic orientation demonstrated the most balanced mechanical behavior, establishing it as the optimal choice for robust and predictable performance, particularly for computational simulations. TPU 60A\u2019s flexibility further emphasizes its suitability for handling delicate objects in industrial and agricultural applications, where damage prevention is critical. Computational simulations using the finite element method were conducted. To verify the accuracy of the models, a comparison was made between the average stresses of the tensile test and the computational predictions. The relative errors of force and displacement are lower than 5%. So, the constitutive model can accurately represent the material\u2019s mechanical behavior, making it suitable for computational simulations with this material. The analysis of strain rates provided valuable insights into optimizing production processes for enhanced mechanical strength. The study highlights the importance of tailored printing parameters to achieve mechanical uniformity, suggesting improvements such as biaxial testing and G-code optimization for variable thickness deposition. Overall, the research study offers comprehensive guidelines for future design and manufacturing techniques in soft robotics.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ma18020240","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,8]],"date-time":"2025-01-08T07:40:13Z","timestamp":1736322013000},"page":"240","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Mechanical Characterization and Computational Analysis of TPU 60A: Integrating Experimental Testing and Simulation for Performance Optimization"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2857-3092","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luan","family":"Lang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electromechanical Engineering, University of Beira Interior, Rua Marqu\u00eas de D\u2019\u00c1vila e Bolama, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"},{"name":"C-MAST\u2014Centre for Mechanical and Aerospace Science and Technologies, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-6599-6905","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rodrigo","family":"Antunes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electromechanical Engineering, University of Beira Interior, Rua Marqu\u00eas de D\u2019\u00c1vila e Bolama, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"},{"name":"C-MAST\u2014Centre for Mechanical and Aerospace Science and Technologies, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3576-5703","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thiago Assis","family":"Dutra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electromechanical Engineering, University of Beira Interior, Rua Marqu\u00eas de D\u2019\u00c1vila e Bolama, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"},{"name":"C-MAST\u2014Centre for Mechanical and Aerospace Science and Technologies, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0672-0378","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martim Lima de","family":"Aguiar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electromechanical Engineering, University of Beira Interior, Rua Marqu\u00eas de D\u2019\u00c1vila e Bolama, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"},{"name":"C-MAST\u2014Centre for Mechanical and Aerospace Science and Technologies, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7177-751X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nuno","family":"Pereira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electromechanical Engineering, University of Beira Interior, Rua Marqu\u00eas de D\u2019\u00c1vila e Bolama, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"},{"name":"C-MAST\u2014Centre for Mechanical and Aerospace Science and Technologies, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1691-1709","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pedro Dinis","family":"Gaspar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electromechanical Engineering, University of Beira Interior, Rua Marqu\u00eas de D\u2019\u00c1vila e Bolama, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"},{"name":"C-MAST\u2014Centre for Mechanical and Aerospace Science and Technologies, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Campilho, R.D.S.G., and Silva, F.J.G. 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