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We report the real time characterization and measurement results of a new tri-axial capacitive sensing array. Each unit cell of the Kapton based sensor has an overlapping electrode geometry that allows for the measurement of normal and shear force magnitudes, and the estimation of the 2D and 3D angle of the shear force. The use of a patterned Ecoflex dielectric layer further improves the shear force response and the tunability of the sensor. A custom readout circuit was developed to selectively read the differential capacitances in the sensor array. The local (unit cell) and global (array) force response of the sensor was characterized using a tilt stage, allowing us to determine both the normal and the shear response at different angles in the range of 0-20N. The results show that the Unit Cell response is uniform in the linear range of 0-10N for normal forces (4.6fF/N for all four differential capacitances) and shows good sensitivity for shear forces (1.4 fF/N difference between the right and left differential capacitances at the minimum) and low cross talk. Similar results were seen when a global force was applied across the sensor array. 2D and 3D models were developed to extrapolate the shear force angle from the capacitance data. We also characterized the flexible patterned dielectric layer to understand the effect of its structural dimensions on the effective relative permittivity and developed an analytical model to easily calculate the effective relative permittivity, which showed excellent correlation with the experimentally obtained results. [2020-0382] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract Pipe belt conveyor is a new type of environmentally friendly and efficient bulk conveying equipment. In the design of the roller, the belt and the driving motor of pipe belt conveyor, the sag resistance is a key parameter. Meanwhile, the normal force between the conveyor belt and the roller group is the other important factor need be considered and has a great influence on the sag resistance. This paper analyzes a pipe belt conveyor with a diameter of 150 mm to study the calculation method of normal force. And the relationship between the normal force and the sag resistance is explored. Firstly, the normal force is decomposed into three components related to the forming force of belt, material gravity and belt gravity. So it can be expressed as a linear combination of these three quantities, and the coefficients of each component are obtained based on the dynamic analysis of belt-roller. The results show that the coefficient is mainly affected by the material filling rate, and is almost not affected by the distance between the rollers and the density of the material. The calculation method of the normal force is eventually obtained. Secondly, the normal force in the case of different material filling rates is tested by experiments, and the calculation method of the normal force is verified. Thirdly, the variation law of the sag resistance in the case of different roller group spacing and material filling rate is studied by the dynamic model. It is found that the roller group spacing and material filling rate affects the sag resistance by changing the normal force. There is a power function relationship between the sag resistance and the normal force. In the case of different roller group spacing and material filling rate, the relationship among the sag resistance and the normal force remains unchanged. This study results are of great significance to the design of pipe belt conveyor.

Abstract The Poynting effect generically manifests itself as the extension of the material in the direction perpendicular to an applied shear deformation (torsion) and is a material parameter hard to design. Unlike isotropic solids, in designed structures, peculiar couplings between shear and normal deformations can be achieved and exploited for practical applications. Here, a metamaterial is engineered that can be programmed to contract or extend under torsion and undergo nonlinear twist under compression. First, it is shown that the system exhibits a novel type of inverted Poynting effect, where axial compression induces a nonlinear torsion. Then the Poynting modulus of the structure is programmed from initial negative values to zero and positive values via a pre‐compression applied prior to torsion. The work opens avenues for programming nonlinear elastic moduli of materials and tuning the couplings between shear and normal responses by rational design. Obtaining inverted and programmable Poynting effects in metamaterials inspires diverse applications from designing machine materials, soft robots, and actuators to engineering biological tissues, implants, and prosthetic devices functioning under compression and torsion.

Cutting using an abrasive water jet is a complex process involving several physical phenomena. This research studies some of them, mostly the influence of selected variables on the measured forces and vibrations. The traverse speed represents one of the key parameters when cutting using the AWJ. In the presented research, a set of experiments was performed on twelve different metal samples, while the force sensor measured the exerted forces and accelerometers measured the vibrations. Ten different types of steel samples of the same dimensions were cut applying five different traverse speeds. The data obtained during these measurements show that an increase in the traverse speed leads to an increase in the measured forces and vibrations. An analogous experiment performed on bronze and duralumin samples of the same dimensions, having applied higher speeds to compensate for the difference in the material structure and properties, completes the presented data. The most important results of the research are that exerted forces in the z-axis are higher than those in the x-axis, whereas measured vibrations are higher in the x-axis. According to our research, the elemental structure, especially the carbide formation, affects the measured forces and vibrations substantially.

The purpose of this article is to present and discuss the results of a non-standard unnamed aerial vehicle construction with a constant cross-section square-shaped avionic profile. Based on the model's in-air observed maneuverability, the research of avionic construction behavior was carried out in a water tunnel. The results show the model's specific lift capabilities in comparison to classical avionic constructions. The characteristic results of the lift coefficient showed that the unmanned aerial vehicle presents favorable features than classic avionic constructions. The model was created with the prospect of using it in the future for dual-use purposes, where unmanned aerial vehicles are currently experiencing very rapid development. When creating the prototype, the focus was on low production cost, as well as convenience in operation. The development of this type of breakthrough avionic solution, which shows extraordinary maneuverability, may contribute to increasing the popularity and, above all, the availability of unmanned aerial vehicles for the largest possible group of recipients because of high avionic properties in relation to the technical construction complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From paints to food products, solvent evaporation is ubiquitous and critically impacts product rheological properties. It affects Newtonian fluids by concentrating any nonvolatile components and viscoelastic materials, which harden up. In both of these cases, solvent evaporation leads to a change in the volume of the sample, which makes any rheological measurements particularly challenging with traditional shear geometries. Here, we show that the rheological properties of a sample experiencing "slow" evaporation can be monitored in a time-resolved fashion by using a zero normal force controlled protocol in a parallel-plate geometry. Solvent evaporation from the sample leads to a decrease of the normal force, which is compensated at all times by a decrease of the gap height between the plates. As a result, the sample maintains a constant contact area with the plates, despite the significant decrease of its volume. We validate the method under both oscillatory and continuous shear by accurately monitoring the viscosity of water–glycerol mixtures experiencing evaporation and a relative volume decrease as large as 70%. Moreover, we apply this protocol to drying suspensions. Specifically, we monitor a dispersion of charged silica nanoparticles undergoing a glass transition induced by evaporation. While the decrease in gap height provides a direct estimate of the increasing particle volume fraction, oscillatory and continuous shear measurements allow us to monitor the evolving viscoelastic properties of the suspension in real time. Overall, our study shows that a zero normal force protocol provides a simple approach to bulk and time-resolved rheological characterization for systems experiencing slow volume variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mechanical excavation, the response of the tool forces on the cutterhead is important when the excavation begins in actual cutting conditions because the reliability and efficiency of the cutting machine are influenced directly by the pick performance. The magnitude of the cutting force is utilized to estimate the specific energy, which is calculated from experimental tests to predict the performance of a mechanical excavation machine. However, the magnitude of normal force is also the other key parameter that used to calculate the load of the work unit of excavation machine. Therefore, based on linear rock cutting experiments performed on the low and high strength sandstones, the variation of the normal force and the variation of ratio of normal force to cutting force have been investigated under different cutting angles. The influence of related cutting angles, which have some direct or indirect effects on the normal force, has been discussed in detail. In this context, the attack angles lower than 80°, preferably between 50 and 60°, the clearance angle lower than 10°, resulted in a decrease on the normal forces. Besides, the positive values of rake angles led to more efficient cutting. Furthermore, it was suggested to employ the conical picks having the tip angles lower than 80° in order to obtain optimum cutting conditions. The certain ranges of the relevant angles exhibited the same characteristic both on low and high strength sandstones. As a result, the empirical models, which were found to be statistically significant, were put forward. These results would be essential for the design of the pick and cutterhead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linear flux switching machines (LFSMs) are one of the recently emerging and competitive candidates for long stroke applications due to high thrust force density, low cost and robust secondary, and high reliability. In the past decade, permanent magnet linear flux switching machines (PMLFSMs) with continuous secondary is researched by numerous researchers. However, cost of rare earth permanent magnet and iron material for continuous secondary in case of long stroke application makes PMLFSMs not an economical choice. In order to incorporate advantages of segmented secondary, such as: less use of stator iron, high power factor, and less critical saturation, a novel complementary dual mover field excited linear flux switching machine (FELFSMs) with segmented secondary and parallel magnetic structure is proposed and investigated in this paper. Furthermore, geometry-based deterministic optimization approach based on finite element analysis (FEA) is adopted to uplift overall thrust force profile, reduce secondary iron volume, and balance magnetic circuit of the machine. During optimization process, magnitude difference of flux flow between ac winding tooth and dc winding tooth is observed, that compel designers to go for unequal primary teeth design. Finally, optimal ac and dc current densities of geometrically optimized model and without any cooling arrangements are investigated for maximum average thrust force and minimum thrust force ripple ratio.

Whenever we grasp and lift an object, our tactile system provides important information on the contact location and the force exerted on our skin. The human brain integrates signals from multiple sites for a coherent representation of object shape, inertia, weight, and other material properties. It is still an open question whether the control of grasp force occurs at the level of individual fingers or whether it is also influenced by the control and the signals from the other fingers of the same hand. In this work, we approached this question by asking participants to lift, transport, and replace a sensorized object, using three- and four-digit grasp. Tactile input was altered by covering participant's fingertips with a rubber thimble, which reduced the reliability of the tactile sensory input. In different experimental conditions, we covered between one and three fingers opposing the thumb. Normal forces at each finger and the thumb were recorded while grasping and holding the object, with and without the thimble. Consistently with previous studies, reducing tactile sensitivity increased the overall grasping force. The gasping force increased in the covered finger, whereas it did not change from baseline in the remaining bare fingers (except the thumb for equilibrium constraints). Digit placement and object tilt were not systematically affected by rubber thimble conditions. Our results suggest that, in each finger opposing thumb, digit normal force is controlled locally in response to the applied tactile perturbation.

In this study, a novel response acquisition method was proposed and verified in a capacitive tactile sensing array, which collected signals from shared capacitors between two adjacent sensing units. In the proposed design, the electrodes of a capacitor exhibited intentional misalignments in the xy-plane and four types of misalignments existed in the array. The tactile sensing array was then numerically evaluated, fabricated, and demonstrated. With the proposed method, the previously undetectable normal force was resolvable with noticeable (at least 225%) spatial resolution enhancement. Because the composition of the sensing array, number of capacitors in the array, and electrode dimensions in the capacitors were all unaltered from the conventional design, high detection sensitivities (on average 3.261 pF/ N for the normal force) were obtained. Additionally, although the four types of sensing unit required four corresponding algorithms to derive the shear angles, results proved that the supportiveness was remained and accuracy was unaltered compared to existing similar works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whenever we grasp and lift an object, our tactile system provides important information on the contact location and the force exerted on our skin. The human brain integrates signals from multiple sites for a coherent representation of object shape, inertia, weight, and other material properties. It is still an open question whether the control of grasp force occurs at the level of individual fingers or whether it is also influenced by the control and the signals from the other fingers of the same hand. In this work, we approached this question by asking participants to lift, transport, and replace a sensorized object, using three- and four-digit grasp. Tactile input was altered by covering participant's fingertips with a rubber thimble, which reduced the reliability of the tactile sensory input. In different experimental conditions, we covered between one and three fingers opposing the thumb. Normal forces at each finger and the thumb were recorded while grasping and holding the object, with and without the thimble. Consistently with previous studies, reducing tactile sensitivity increased the overall grasping force. The gasping force increased in the covered finger, whereas it did not change from baseline in the remaining bare fingers (except the thumb for equilibrium constraints). Digit placement and object tilt were not systematically affected by rubber thimble conditions. Our results suggest that, in each finger opposing thumb, digit normal force is controlled locally in response to the applied tactile perturbation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the new semi-analytical solution for the moving mass problem on massless foundation, published by the author of this paper, is extended to account for inertial foundation modelled by a continuous homogeneous finite depth foundation with simplified shear resistance. Derivations are presented for infinite as well as finite homogeneous beams. Mode expansion method is used to solve the problem on finite beams, thus vibration modes, the corresponding orthogonality condition, reengagement of coupled equations to ensure significant calculation time savings are derived. Methods of integral transforms and contour integration are exploited to obtain the solution on infinite beams. Resulting vibrations are derived as a sum of the steady and unsteady harmonic vibrations and a transient contribution. The unsteady harmonic vibration is proven to be a useful indicator of unstable behaviour through the mass induced frequencies. Besides frequency lines also discontinuity lines are determined and their influence on the proximity of harmonic and full solutions is discussed. Even if the differences between these two versions are larger than for the massless foundation, it is shown that the harmonic solution provides a very good estimate of the full solution (in several cases perfect match is achieved) with the advantage to be obtainable by a simple evaluation of the derived closed-form results. Like for the massless foundation, also here, vibrations on infinite beams can be obtained on long finite beams with eliminated effect of its supports. All mentioned approaches are also validated by the finite element method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene oxide (GO) and other 2D-nanosheet materials exhibit a range of useful physical, chemical, electrical, and optical properties that may usher in the next generation of biomedical, bioimaging, or sensing technologies. One limitation of GO is its poor stability in concentrated electrolytes and other complex fluids that requires steric stabilizers, including surface grafted polymers, to overcome attractive van der Waals interactions. Here, we describe a simple, rapid, and highly effective method of modifying GO and other 2D-nanosheets with thick, grafted (bio)polymer brushes via the solution self-assembly of lubricin (LUB; a.k.a. PRG4), an antiadhesive glycoprotein. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging and force measurements were used to characterize the morphology and nanomechanical response of these LUB–GO, 2D-nanosheet complexes (2D-NSC). These characterization studies reveal a strong correlation between the GO surface area and the thickness (i.e., molecular extension) of the grafted LUB brush caused by edge free volume effects. Likewise, this edge free volume influences the extension of the LUB brush structure more than 300 nm away from the edge, resulting in a transition region of increasing brush extension before reaching a fully extended state within the central regions of the 2D-NSC. Fitting AFM normal force measurements using an adapted Alexander–de Gennes polymer brush model also indicate that the edge free volume leads to a mechanical softening of the LUB brush due to the lateral spreading and/or deflection of LUB molecules under compression. Finally, the stability studies of 2D-NSCs dispersed in concentrated electrolyte solutions demonstrate the effectiveness of the grafted LUB brushes at inhibiting aggregation even in the harshest environments. 2D-NSCs thus represent a simple solution to modifying nanosheets with thick, multifunctional brushes with promising application in biosensing, bioimaging, catalysis, and biolubrication, where nanosheets must perform in concentrated electrolytes or complex fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, stoppers were designed and allocated in a planar four-capacitor (P4C) sensing unit for modulating capacitive tactile sensor (CTS) characteristics. The stoppers deterred the structural deformation of the CTS when applied with normal forces, realizing a three-stage operation: high detection sensitivity, wide dynamic range, and saturation. Comprehensive studies including theoretical design, numerical evaluation, demonstrator fabrication, experimental analysis, and a technical discussion were conducted. The proposed CTS achieved 0.901 pF/N sensitivity, enhanced dynamic range by 235.3%, and supported 2.1 N detection in the first, second, and third stages under normal force applications, respectively. With the CTS characteristics resulting from varying stopper locations, a relationship between the capacitive response and applied force is established to support typical P4C CTSs in arbitrary dimensions. In addition, systematic tolerance is studied to explain detection accuracy for the first time. The proposed CTS provides operation flexibility in normal force detections, and unaltered supportiveness on shear force and its angle detections, compared with typical CTSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Realistic display of tactile textures on touch screens is a big step forward for haptic technology to reach a wide range of consumers utilizing electronic devices on a daily basis. Since the texture topography cannot be rendered explicitly by electrovibration on touch screens, it is important to understand how we perceive the virtual textures displayed by friction modulation via electrovibration. We investigated the roughness perception of real gratings made of plexiglass and virtual gratings displayed by electrovibration through a touch screen for comparison. In particular, we conducted two psychophysical experiments with ten participants to investigate the effect of spatial period and the normal force applied by finger on roughness perception of real and virtual gratings in macro size. We also recorded the contact forces acting on the participants’ finger during the experiments. The results showed that the roughness perception of real and virtual gratings are different. We argue that this difference can be explained by the amount of fingerpad penetration into the gratings. For real gratings, penetration increased tangential forces acting on the finger, whereas for virtual ones where skin penetration is absent, tangential forces decreased with spatial period. Supporting our claim, we also found that increasing normal force increases the perceived roughness of real gratings while it causes an opposite effect for the virtual gratings. These results are consistent with the tangential force profiles recorded for both real and virtual gratings. In particular, the rate of change in tangential force ($dF_t/dt$) as a function of spatial period and normal force followed trends similar to those obtained for the roughness estimates of real and virtual gratings, suggesting that it is a better indicator of the perceived roughness than the tangential force magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Squeal noise is generated by an unstable friction-induced vibration in a mechanical structure with friction load. Nonlinear mechanisms like sprag-slip, stick-slip, and negative frictions damping are believed in contributing to generate this kind of noise. However, the prediction of its occurrence still counts on the analysis of complex-linear eigenvalue, which may underpredict the number of unstable vibration modes. The structure also is found to seem to generate squeal noise randomly. In this paper, nonlinear analysis of a squeal noise was investigated. The study was conducted numerically by a simple two-degree of freedom model and an experimental observation using a circular and slider plate with a friction contact interface. The friction force is modelled as a function cubic nonlinear contact stiffness and nonlinear negative velocity function of friction coefficient. It is found that mode coupling instability will occur if the normal contact stiffness and friction coefficient exceed the bifurcation point to generate a couple-complex conjugate eigenvalue and eigenvector. However, when the system is stated linearly stable, instability still can appear because of increasing the nonlinear contact stiffness and coefficient of friction. The instability is affected significantly by relative velocity and pressing force. Both parameters dynamically change depending on the vibration response of the structure. Furthermore, it is also found the stick-slip phenomenon interacted with mode coupling instability to generate squeal noise. It contributes to supply energy to increase the response caused by instability of mode coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pipe belt conveyor is a new type of environmentally friendly and efficient bulk conveying equipment. In the design of the roller, the belt and the driving motor of pipe belt conveyor, the sag resistance is a key parameter. Meanwhile, the normal force between the conveyor belt and the roller group is the other important factor need be considered and has a great influence on the sag resistance. This paper analyzes a pipe belt conveyor with a diameter of 150 mm to study the calculation method of normal force. And the relationship between the normal force and the sag resistance is explored. Firstly, the normal force is decomposed into three components related to the forming force of belt, material gravity and belt gravity. So it can be expressed as a linear combination of these three quantities, and the coefficients of each component are obtained based on the dynamic analysis of belt-roller. The results show that the coefficient is mainly affected by the material filling rate, and is almost not affected by the distance between the rollers and the density of the material. The calculation method of the normal force is eventually obtained. Secondly, the normal force in the case of different material filling rates is tested by experiments, and the calculation method of the normal force is verified. Thirdly, the variation law of the sag resistance in the case of different roller group spacing and material filling rate is studied by the dynamic model. It is found that the roller group spacing and material filling rate affects the sag resistance by changing the normal force. There is a power function relationship between the sag resistance and the normal force. In the case of different roller group spacing and material filling rate, the relationship among the sag resistance and the normal force remains unchanged. This study results are of great significance to the design of pipe belt conveyor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The working temperature of a bituminous pavement can typically range from 75 ∘ C to − 20 ∘ C. Bitumen shows a wide spectrum of mechanical behaviour in this temperature range and these include those of a viscoelastic fluid, a viscoelastic solid and an elastic solid. Due to the amorphous nature of the material, the transitions between such mechanical responses are gradual. This investigation focuses on the transition between the viscoelastic solid and the viscoelastic fluid state of a wide class of bitumens with regard to unaged and short-term aged conditions. An unmodified binder and three modified binders were subjected to temperature sweep and frequency sweep in the viscoelastic regime across a wide range of temperatures. Depending on the material and the post-processing method followed, one could discern a viscoelastic fluid and a viscoelastic solid regime and a frequency-dependent mixture regime consisting of a viscoelastic solid and a viscoelastic fluid, across the tested temperatures and frequencies. It is shown in this investigation that parameters such as G ′ –G ′′ crossover and frequency independence of tan δ cannot be used to estimate the temperatures corresponding to the onset of either fluid-like or solid-like behaviour of the body as the temperature varies. It is also shown that the time–temperature superposition principle does not hold good in the temperature regime tested (75–25 ∘ C) due to the viscoelastic transitions exhibited by bitumen and modified bitumen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimization of extrusion of energetic materials is a complex topic that requires the knowledge of the material behaviour in the processing conditions selected for this forming process. During the rheological characterization of multi-base colloidal propellants (nitrocellulose gels), certain mechanisms, such as apparent wall slip and loss of solvents, provoke a significant distortion on the rheological results. Although there are some specific procedures based on correcting the wall slip or quantifying the rate of solvent evaporation, this work provides a new analysis of these phenomena for double-base gelled propellants that can help to improve the rheological characterization of these materials. In the present work the concept of "transition layer" is introduced for describing the migration effects related to the loss of solvents that are originated inside the material sample, which provides a better understanding of the viscoelastic response of these concentrated suspensions when rotational rheology with parallel plate geometry is applied. In addition, the control of the normal force exerted during the rotational rheology testing is assumed in this work to analyse the influence of the above-mentioned mechanisms. This analysis of the rheological behaviour of these energetic materials is the basis for the modelling and optimization of the extrusion process, though a deeper knowledge of specific mechanisms of the propellant doughs visco-elasto-plastic response inside the extrusion channels must be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By discretizing the contact area between the external retainer plate and the external spherical hinge, a mathematical model for the force relation of an arbitrary contact point in the external return spherical bearing pair was established and a mathematical expression for the friction power of the external return spherical bearing pair was deduced. The influences of the slant inclination of the external swash plate, pump shaft rotating speed, eccentricity, spring force and number of discrete contact points on the friction power were also analysed. The results show that the power fluctuation amplitude of the discrete contact point in the external return spherical bearing pair increases with increasing slant inclination of the external swash plate, pump shaft rotating speed and spring force; the total friction power was found to increase linearly. However, the power fluctuation amplitude of the discrete contact point in the external return spherical bearing pair was found to decrease with increasing eccentricity, with the total friction power decreasing nonlinearly until reaching a certain value. The distribution shape of the friction power of the discrete contact point is only affected by eccentricity. If the eccentricity is large, the friction power of the discrete point presents a double-peak distribution, whereas if it is small, a multiple-peak distribution is observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to fast calculate the thrust force and normal force of linear induction motor (LIM) for low-speed maglev train under overall conditions including traction and braking, this paper proposes an improved equivalent circuit (EC) method. Firstly, the improved equivalent circuit model is proposed based on the traditional one by adopting a precision correction factor, which can accurately consider the transverse edge effect of cap-shape secondary conducting sheet. Moreover, the permeability of back-iron and magnetic inductance are amended considering the saturation effect. The corresponding calculation procedure is given out. Then, the precise correction factor is investigated based on 2D finite element (FE) model. By comparison with the traditional Russell and Norsworthy correction factor (RNF), the precision correction factor is proved to be more suitable to LIM with wide-range slip frequency. Finally, the thrust force and normal force of LIM with different slip frequency are predicted under braking and traction conditions by improved EC method. The predicted results and the proposed method are validated by 3D FE method and experiment results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrovibration has become one of the promising approaches for adding tactile feedback on touchscreen. Previous studies revealed that the normal force applied on the touchscreen by the finger affects significantly the electrostatic force. It is obvious that the normal force affects the electrostatic force if it changes the contact area between the finger and the touchscreen. However, it is unclear whether the normal force affects the electrostatic force when the apparent contact area is constant. In this paper, we estimated the electrostatic force via measuring the tangential force of the finger sliding on a 3M touchscreen at different normal forces under the constant apparent contact area. We found that the electrostatic force increases significantly as the normal force increases from 0.5 to 4.5N. We explained the experimental results using the most recently proposed electrostatic force model, which considers the effect of air gap. We estimated the averaged air gap thickness using the electrostatic force model. The results showed that the relationship between the air gap thickness and the normal force follows a power function. Our experiment suggests that the normal force has a significant effect on the air gap thickness, thus require consideration in the design of tactile feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]