Air-Able: Fabrication and Experiments of Effervescent Fabric Chamber Inflation with Various Shape of Structures and Wearables

Abstract A rigid system can support a huge amount of matter, but when it comes to human matter, although it can be served as a frame, or mechanism, etc., it only provides “rigid” solutions. Since the human body is made of curved surfaces that are challenging to track and adapt, “softer” methods should be applied. Herein, Air-able; an inflatable system based on variable stiffness methods is proposed. Air-able is inspired by research on inflatable structures with an air chamber. Previous research has shown the potential for various chamber shapes, demonstrating that even a chamber filled with air can withstand a certain level of weight, though not as much as a rigid system can. Since Air-able uses a fabric air chamber, it can be fabricated into many types of chambers, such as support structures and improvised splints due to the variety of fabrics and their combinations. It is also designed to minimize application areas so the pressure inside can effectively concentrate. This study suggests one more issue: tethering. When a system is tethered with electrical codes, or pipelines that deliver power, its movement or range of motion is limited. From past studies, air chambers are very light because they are made of materials like plastics and fabrics. The problem is; however, most chambers are tethered to a pump system applying pressure inside. The pump system produces higher pressure, so it helps increase the stiffness of air chambers, at the same time it makes chambers dependent on it. In this study, an effervescent effect is used to inflate Air-able chambers. Effervescence via the reaction of citric acid and sodium bicarbonate forms gas bubbles of carbon dioxide and makes inflation of the chamber. And small amounts of water can accelerate reactions. To secure the usability of Air-able, those effervescent reactants are made into a tablet form including extra compounds which aid manufacturing process. Furthermore, a wearable interface is devised so the user can recharge and control Air-able; integration of fabric air chamber and effervescent tablet reaction using water. Air-able is light, untethered, and rechargeable air chamber inflation methods only produce carbonated water as byproduct. Future studies will focus on improving its design and performance.