Analysis of a functionally graded compliant mechanism surgical
grasper
Jovana Jovanova1, Angela Nastevska1, Mary Frecker2, and Milton E. Aguirre3,
1: Ss Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, 2: The Pennsylvania State University, 3: Milton
Medical Innovations B.V., Healthcare Technology Start-Up
Abstract— The focus of this paper is to explore the benefits of
functional grading on the performance of a compliant
mechanism surgical grasper currently pursuing
commercialization. The compliant mechanism tool tip is
analyzed to illustrate the potential of exploiting functionally
graded superelastic behavior of Nickel Titanium alloy in high
stress segments. A finite element model is used to predict
grasping performance. Superelasticity is taken into
consideration using a standard nonlinear shape memory alloy
material model. To approximate functional grading, flexible
elements within the compliant mechanism are segmented and
material properties varied to explore the effect on grasping
performance. Segmentation analyses show improvements in
maximum stress with minimal compromise to grasping
performance.
I. INTRODUCTION
Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are a group of metallic
materials that exhibit unique mechanical properties, such as
superelasticity, and, accordingly, are suitable for compliant
mechanisms where high flexibility is required for the
application. SMAs undergo solid-to-solid phase
transformations to recover very large deformation. The so
called superelastic effect is induced by stress changes during
external loading and unloading of the material. The most
common SMA in the biomedical field is Nitinol (NiTi) based
on its biocompatibility and good resistance to corrosion and
fatigue. NiTi is advantageous compared to stainless steel and
other biocompatible materials because of the superelastic and
shape memory effects leading to higher localized compliance
and higher strain recovery. The benefits of using NiTi in
medical applications, including endoscopic surgery, are
summarized in [1].
Endoscopic surgery, also called Minimally Invasive
Surgery (MIS), is a modern surgical technique in which
diagnosis and disease treatment are performed through small
incisions or natural body openings. These procedures rely on
long slender devices able to access and operate inside the body
with use of cameras. The benefits of MIS procedures have been
widely reported, including less post operational complications,
reduced levels of pain, shorter recovery time, and lower risk of
infection as compared to traditional open surgery.
Compliant surgical graspers have been designed based on
the advantages of monolithic design that can enhance
instrument performance and simplify manufacturing. By
978-1-5386-6380-6/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE
circumventing the rigid joints and relative motion between
mating parts, the instrument performance can be increased due
to the elimination of friction. Past research has documented the
development of tasks, optimal designs and prototypes of
compliant mechanism surgical graspers in [2, 3].
International researchers have worked on optimizing MIS
instrumentation, especially graspers, to improve instrument
performance and accuracy. Mathematical models, finite
element models and standard pseudo-rigid-body-models are
typically used for the design of compliant graspers [4-9]. Some
of the benefits of engineered elasticity in the design of surgical
instruments for laparoscopic and robot-assisted surgery are
highlighted in [10]. A novel compliant laparoscopic instrument
that combines a scissors and forceps into a single
multifunctional device is shown in [11].
Some designs incorporate additional actuation and sensor
devices. A superelastic NiTi microgripper with integrated
electromagnetic actuators and piezoelectric force sensors has
been shown in [12]. A powered surgical monobloc tool tip that
can pitch and yaw using corner-filleted flexure hinge-based
compliant joints is presented in [13] which has an integrated
compliant grasper. Origami engineering is applied to generate
two rotations and one translation for the design of a compliant
gripper as a novel four-degree-of freedom grasper in [14].
The possibility of having nonhomogeneous mechanical
properties in a compliant mechanism in order to obtain flexible
and stiff regions is possible with functional grading and
tailoring the moduli of elasticity of NiTi. By allowing each
segment to have different composition of nickel and titanium
during fabrication, it is possible to have different nonlinear
material behavior for each of the segments [15, 16]. By using
additive manufacturing for fabrication, the superelastic
properties of the material could be tailored by controlling the
composition of nickel and titanium. A direct energy deposition
approach to accomplish this is currently being developed to
change the microstructure of the material and its superelastic
properties [17, 18]. Different compositions of NiTi have
different microstructure and therefore different macroscopic
material properties. The relationship between the moduli of
elasticity of each composition and the fabrication technology
is determined by material characterization. Furthermore the
mechanical interface between different compositions is still to
be explored. The advantage of using nonlinear elastic material
with the geometric design is the combined effort to reach
superlesticity on demand and tailoring the local material with maximum of 1.26 mm and minimum of 0.0916 mm
behavior for achieving overall controlled performance. element size. The Multifrontal Massively Parallel sparse direct
Solver - MUMPS was used as direct solver from the COMSOL
Design and optimization methods for developing hybrid, solver options.
multi-material, compliant instruments, as well as their
respective fabrication techniques is presented in [19, 20]. Two operational conditions in the finite element analysis
Geometric optimization and material characterization of (FEA) are used to predict grasping performance: the free
functionally graded compliant mechanism has been developed deflection and blocked force conditions at the grasper tip.
and presented in [21]. Exploiting the benefits of contact-aided These distinct loading and boundary conditions are illustrated
compliant mechanism in surgical tool tips is presented in [22]. in Fig. 2. In the free deflection case, the tips of the grasper are
free to move as the center section is displaced in the –x
The remainder of the paper is structured as follows: section
direction. When the grasper is in its operating mode, it comes
II presents the surgical compliant grasper design. Section III in contact with tissue and transfers force to the tissue to
describes the finite element model including superelastic complete a certain surgical task. The grasping force depends
effects. In section IV the functional grading of the compliant on the stiffness of the tissue. In the FEA, the maximum
mechanism is introduced and the potential of tailoring material possible grasping force is modelled by constraining the
properties is explored. Section V concludes the paper and lays vertical displacement of the tips in the y direction while
out the future work for this research. displacing the center section in the –x direction. The reaction
II. COMPLIANT MECHANISM DESIGN OF A SURGICAL force measured at the tip is defined as blocked force (Fb), and
GRASPER TOOL TIP is the maximum gripping force.
The compliant tool tip proposed in this paper has been
analyzed in previous publications [6-9, 23] which focus on
improving the force-feedback capabilities of surgical graspers
through monolithic compliance using a homogeneous material.
Standard graspers lack force feedback because they rely on
conventional rigid-linkages that introduce friction and
backlash. Compliant mechanisms have shown better grasping
performance based on the absence of rigid-linkages and the
ability of flexible members to conform around the shape of
tissue when grasping. In this research, a 5 mm diameter
laparoscopic compliant tool tip is considered. The geometric
properties of the design within this case study remain constant
and performance evaluations are compared to a baseline design
currently pursing commercialization.
The full surgical instrument is illustrated in Fig. 1, which
consists of a compliant tool tip fixated to a conventional 5 mm
diameter laparoscopic actuation system, i.e., handle and shaft.
The tool tip is fabricated in a half-open equilibrium position
and actuated by a central push/pull rod that opens and closes
the device.

Figure 2: Loading and boundary conditions that predict grasper

performance

A nonlinear material model introduces superelastic

behavior in the FEA. The superelastic response is captured by
using a standard nonlinear SMA material model for the
mechanical behavior of NiTi ( ):
Figure 1. Compliant tool tip assembled onto a laparosopic grasper
actuation system.

To explore the advantages of the superelastic behavior of

NiTi, a 3D finite element model of the surgical grasper
compliant tool tip has been developed and analyzed. COMSOL =
Multiphysics was used as FEA modeling environment. The (1)
structural mechanics module was used to model the grasper
with the nonlinear structural material module implemented
with the fully coupled approach. Automatic physics controlled
mesh was implemented with 149931 free tetrahedral elements
where is the Young’s modulus of the austenite phase of
NiTi, is the Poisson’s ratio, is the material response ratio
between tension and compression, is the maximum residual
strain, is the starting stress value for the forward phase
transformation, is the final stress value for the forward
phase transformation, is the starting stress value for the
reverse phase transformation, and is the final stress value
for the reverse phase transformation. This nonlinear material
model, Fig. 3, has been developed in [24], and successfully
implemented for compliant mechanism design in [25]. The
combined effort of using superelastic material and the
geometry properties of compliant mechanisms to exploit high
localized flexibility has been shown in [26, 27].
The free deflection condition was analyzed for two cases:
the entire compliant mechanism consisting of linear elastic
material, and the entire compliant mechanism consisting of the
nonlinear superelastic material. To examine the deformation
modes of the grasper, it was deformed to a complete closed
position with a prescribed horizontal displacement of 0.7mm,
which required an input actuation force of 50N. The
deformation and the von Mises stress of the 3D FEA models
are presented in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5. The maximum stress in the
linear elastic case is 660MPa, while in the superelastic case it
is 520MPa. The maximum vertical displacement of the grasper
tip in the free deflection condition for the nonlinear superelastic
material is 5.819mm, which compared to the linear elastic
grasper is 5.822mm; these two are nearly the same value, i.e.
the total free deflection is the same for both the linear and
nonlinear superelastic materials.

Figure 3: SMA nonlinear material model. The model incorporates the

critical stresses for transformation obtained from uniaxial tension-
compression test.

The critical parameters used to evaluate the benefits of

functional grading are the linear region corresponding to the
higher Young’s modulus ( ) - nitinol austenite phase -
marked with blue in Fig. 3, and the transformational stress
( ) that initiates the transformation from austenite to Figure 4. Free deflection and von Mises stress of the grasper with the linear
martensite - marked with yellow in Fig. 3. The values material. The deformation modes and output performance parameters
prescribed in the nonlinear material model are based on (Delta_tip and Von Mises stress) remained consistent in the free deflection
experimental material characterization of NiTi bulk specimen of the grasper assuming linear elastic and nonlinear superelastic NiTi
in uniaxial loading and unloading, which were fabricated using material.
additive manufacturing [17]. The parameters important for
analyses in this work are given in Table I.

TABLE I.

NiTi material properties

NiTi
70 [GPa] 15.1[GPa] 500 [MPa]

III. FEA MODEL OF COMPLIANT SURGICAL GRASPER WITH

LINEAR ELASTIC AND NONLINEAR SUPERELASTIC NITINOL
The operational loading conditions used to predict grasping
performance are analyzed assuming constant geometry and
material properties listed in Table 1. For comparison, the
analyses are modeled first with linear elastic NiTi material with
constant Young’s modulus , and then superlesticity was
introduced using the standard nonlinear material model for
NiTi. Superelasticity is expected to be advantageous in areas
where there are high strains. Therefore the stresses are
expected to be reduced in these thin sections compared to the
linear elastic material. Figure 5. Free deflection and von Mises stress of the grasper with
nonlinear superelastic NiTi material
 The blocked force condition was also considered. As the
grasper is actuated, the fixed constraint at the tip creates a
reaction force, or blocked force. The stress distributions of the
grasper are shown in Fig. 6 for the linear elastic material and
in Fig. 7 for the nonlinear superelastic material.
Figure 6. Von Mises stress for linear elastic material NiTi compliant surgical
grasper
Figure 7. Von Mises stress for nonlinear superelastic material NiTi
compliant surgical grasper
From the figures showing the von Mises stress in both cases,
it can be concluded that the maximum stresses are much
lower in the nonlinear material grasper. The maximum stress
value for the linear elastic case is 3800 MPa, while in the
nonlinear superelastic case is 2500 MPa.
The blocked force and the maximum stress have been
analyzed over the range of input displacement from 0.05mm
to 0.3mm, as shown in Figure 8.
Figure 8. Maximal von Mises stress and reaction force in the linear
elastic and nonlinear superelastic grasper
It is noticeable that the maximum stress values for the
nonlinear material model are lower than in the linear material
case. This clearly shows the benefit of superelasticity in
reducing stress in the surgical grasper. The blocked force
remains almost the same in the two cases, which shows that the
grasping performance is maintained, even though the peak
stresses are reduced. The same grasping performance, but with
less stress would result in a longer product lifetime and reduced
risk of failure.
In the next section we explore localizing the superelasticity
and further improving the performance through functional
grading of the material.
IV. SEGMENTED FEA MODEL FOR FUNCTIONALLY GRADED
SURGICAL GRASPER
Functional grading could lead to tailored stiffness
characteristics that can further improve grasping performance.
The tailored modulus of elasticity and critical transformation
stress program the material to go into the superelastic behavior
as required by the design. To improve the design performance
of the compliant grasper, the aim is to produce sufficient force
while reducing the peak stress. Reducing the peak stresses in
the surgical grasper is expected to result in better reliability as
well as longer lifetime of the device. To approximate
functional grading, the compliant members are segmented to
explore the potential of localizing the superelasticity. The
segmentation is focused on the thin parts of the compliant
grasper, where the highest stresses are expected to occur.
The compliant segments of a half-symmetry model of the
grasper are divided into three segments each, coinciding with
the regions where highest stress expected, based on the
previous FEA. The segmentation is shown in Fig. 9. In order
to make systematic changes in the parameters, three cases are
considered, as numbered and shown in Fig. 9.

Figure 9. Segmented half grasper model
To account for the segmentation, the grasper is modeled
with linear elastic material, but for each of the segments
marked in blue, the nonlinear superelastic material behavior is
assigned, using the properties in Table I. The maximum
stresses and the blocked forces at the tip are simulated for the
same prescribed input displacement, as shown in Fig. 10 and
Fig. 11.
Figure 10. Maximum stress in segmented model for prescribed displacement
in blocked force condition.
Figure 11. Blocked force at the tip in segmented model for prescribed
displacement.
In Fig. 10 it can be observed that localizing the
superelasticity in various segments reduces the maximum
stress in all cases, but there is not much difference in the
maximum stress among the three segmented cases considered.
However, the blocked force results in Fig.11 show that cases
13 and 23 exhibit more blocked force than the other cases,
particularly at higher input displacements.
Design 13 was selected for further analysis because the
superelastic regions correspond to areas of high stress in the
free deflection case; the stress distribution can been seen in Fig.
12. By introducing the superelastic material in model 13, the
peak von Mises stress is reduced in the grasper, compared to
both the linear elastic and nonlinear superelastic case. The
blocked force for this design is 0.9 N, which is higher than the
linear elastic case (0.76 N) and the nonlinear superelastic case
(0.67N). This indicates that the blocked force has not been
reduced with the segmentation, and the grasper maintains its
performance.
Figure 12. Free deflection and von Mises stress with nonlinear superelastic
material in segments for case 13
In order to improve the grasping performance and reduce the
maximum stress even further, the material properties of the
NiTi could be tailored during fabrication. The next set of cases
explores this possibility through analysis of the compliant
grasper with different nonlinear material behavior.
In order to identify the influence of the material properties
to the grasper performance, five different nonlinear material
curves were created with parametric variation of the values
given in Table I. The superelastic nonlinear material from
Table I is called Material A in Table II. The critical
transformation stress was varied in Material B and
Material C, while keeping the modulus of elasticity constant as
in Material A. Then the transformation stress was kept constant
as in Material A, while varying the NiTi austenite modulus of
elasticity , for Material D and Material E. All materials are
marked with different colors to match the results later in this
section.
 TABLE II. decrease of the modulus of elasticity, Fig. 14, which means that
NiTi material properties variations the performance of the grasper changes. Even though the
stresses are reduced, as shown in Fig. 13, further exploration is
Material [GPa] [GPa] [MPa] color
needed to maintain the grasping blocked force.
Material A 70 15.1 500
However, the change in the critical transformation
Material B 70 15.1 250 stress showed potential to maintain the grasper
performance even when the material properties vary. Material
Material C 70 15.1 375 A was kept as the basic nonlinear superelastic material, with
Material D 55 15.1 500 = 500 MPa. For parameterization, Material B was created
by reducing the critical stress to = 250 MPA, and Material
Material E 40 15.1 500 C is in between with = 375 MPa, while keeping the
modulus of elasticity in all phases the same for all three
The grasping performance was calculated for all five materials A, B and C.
nonlinear materials through the blocked force in operating The influence of the critical transformation stress on
mode condition and the maximum overall stress, and compared the grasping performance is shown in Fig. 15 and Fig. 16, with
to the linear elastic material case. the comparisons of the maximum overall stress and the reaction
To identify the parametric influence of the change of forces for the nonlinear superelastic materials A, B and C and
modulus of elasticity while the critical transformation stress is the linear elastic material case.
constant, Material A has modulus of elasticity =70GPa, then
Material D and Material E have modulus of elasticity
=55GPa and =40GPa, accordingly. The maximum overall
stress and the blocked forces for the nonlinear materials A, D
and E are shown in the graphs in Fig. 13 and Fig. 14.

Figure 15. Maximum stress for different critical transformation stress

(Material A = 500 MPa; Material B = 250 MPa; Materia _C = 375 MPa)

Figure 13. Maximum stress for different austenite modulus of elasticity

(Material A =70GPa; Material D =55GPa; Material E =40GPa)

Figure 16. Reaction force for different critical transformation stress

(Material_A = 500 MPa; Material_B = 250 MPa; Material_C = 375 MPa)

The change of critical transformation stress, reduces the

overall stress, Fig. 15, but gives the possibility to adjust and
Figure 14. Reaction force for different austenite modulus of elasticity
control the reaction force to maintain the grasper’s
(Material A =70GPa; Material D =55GPa; Material E =40GPa) performance. Fig. 16 shows that for different prescribed
displacements the blocked force varies, but follows the trend
It can be seen that the change in austenite modulus of as in the linear elastic material case. It can be noted that
elasticity changes the grasping performance. The reaction force material C creates higher reaction force for the lower
shows a trend of lowering the value drastically with the prescribed displacement range, but then it becomes equal to
material A, and follows the trend of the linear elastic case for
the most of the displacement range. Material B shows a trend
of limiting the maximal reaction force that could be beneficial
to surgical procedures sensitive to tissue damaging by applying
an extensive force.
By fine tuning the local material properties in particular
high flexibility regions using functional grading, it is possible
to maintain the grasping performance of the surgical grasper,
while reducing the maximum overall stress. To further explore
the functional grading, a combination of different nonlinear
material curves (Table II) in different segments of the surgical
grasper (Fig. 9) was modeled and analyzed for the blocked
force condition. Since the change in the critical transformation
stress provides better grasping performance, the functional
grading is modeled as a linear elastic material grasper with
nonlinear materials A, B and C in segments 1, 2, and 3. The
designs are shown schematically in Table III.
TABLE III. (Refer to Table II for color legend)
Functionally graded designs Design line
Design 1: 1B_2C_3A
Design 2: 1B_2A_3C
Design 3: 1C_2C_3A
Design 4: 1B_2C_3B
The comparisons of the maximum overall stress and the
reaction forces for the functionally graded designs are
presented in Fig. 17 and Fig. 18.
The results in Fig. 17 confirm once again the stress reduction
in the compliant mechanism grasper, as all 4 designs exhibit
lower overall maximum stress than the linear elastic case. On
average the stress reduction is 30%. Fig. 18 compares the
blocked force of all four functionally graded designs with the
linear elastic case materials. Design 4 exhibits 40% lower
reaction force at the tip, while all other designs are with similar
performance with a variation of 8%. Designs 1 and 3 perform
almost the same, and they produce slightly higher reaction
force at lower input displacements, but then between 0.2mm
and 0.25 mm they begin to exhibit slightly lower reaction force
than the linear elastic material. Design 2 shows that the reaction
force slightly exceeds the reaction force of the linear case over
the lower displacement range, but then between 0.25 mm to 0.3
mm, the functionally graded grasper exhibits the same grasping
force as the linear elastic one.
Figure 17. Maximum overall stress for functionally graded NiTi grasper
(Designs 1, 2, 3, and 4)
Figure 18. Reaction force for functionally graded NiTi grasper
(Designs 1, 2, 3, and 4)
These results demonstrate the potential of functional
grading, as the material properties could be tailored so that the
surgical grasper could maintain the grasping force and
experience reduced stresses, resulting in better overall
performance of the surgical tool. By localizing the functional
grading, the superelastic effect is exploited only when
necessary.
V. CONCLUSION
This paper introduces nonlinear material properties in a
surgical compliant grasper tool tip. One of the main concerns
with compliant mechanisms is the possibility of fatigue failure
when high stresses and high strains occur repeatedly. The
compliant grasper takes advantage of the superelastic behavior
of nitinol, as it reduces the peak stress in the compliant
mechanism while maintain the grasping force, resulting in
equivalent performance and longer lifetime of the device.
Comparison analyses were presented of the grasper
performance when fabricated with linear elastic NiTi material
and nonlinear superelastic material. A parametric study
showed the influence of the critical transformation stress and
the austenite modulus of elasticity to the grasping
performance. When the nonlinear material is introduced only
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