The mechanics of $\textit{Less In More Out}$: modeling fabric-based soft robotic hearts

Abstract: Fabric-based soft robots combine high load-carrying capacity, efficiency, and low weight with the ability to bend, twist, contract, or extend with ease, making them promising candidates for biomedical applications such as soft total artificial hearts. While recent experiments have demonstrated their potential, predictive numerical models are urgently needed to study their complex mechanics, guide design optimization and improve their reliability. We develop a computational model of the Less In More Out device, a fluidically actuated soft total artificial heart constructed from heat-sealed layers of woven fabric. Our model reproduces the nonlinear deformation, strain fields, and pressure-volume relationships measured in quasi-static experiments. Devices with fewer pouches deliver higher stroke volumes but exhibit up to 50% higher peak von Mises stresses. Fatigue analysis using a strain-life approach identifies heat-sealed seams and buckling regions as durability-limiting features. Our framework enables detailed evaluation of stress concentrations, buckling, and fatigue life, providing mechanistic insights that are difficult to obtain experimentally. It also offers a foundation for the optimization of artificial hearts and other fluid actuated fabric-based soft robotic systems.