Actuation performances of anisotropic gels

We investigated the actuation performances of anisotropic gels driven by mechanical and chemical stimuli, in terms of both deformation processes and stroke--curves, and distinguished between the fast response of gels before diffusion starts and the asymptotic response attained at the steady state. We also showed as the range of forces that an anisotropic hydrogel can exert when constrained is especially wide;indeed, changing fiber orientation allows to induce shear as well as transversely isotropic extensions.