Novel ionic polymeric hydraulic actuators

Mohsen Shahinpoor; Kwang J. Kim

doi:10.1117/12.432642

16 July 2001 Novel ionic polymeric hydraulic actuators

Mohsen Shahinpoor, Kwang J. Kim

Proceedings Volume 4329, Smart Structures and Materials 2001: Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices; (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.432642
Event: SPIE's 8th Annual International Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials, 2001, Newport Beach, CA, United States

Abstract

It is now well recognized that a strip of ionic polymer- metal composite (IPMC) exhibits a spontaneous bending capability under the influence of an electric potential. A key observation is the appearance and disappearance of water on the expansion and contraction surfaces of the strip, respectively. Such water appearing/disappearing activities occur near the permeable metal electrodes. The imposition of en elctric field causes the mobile cations that are conjugated to the polymeric anions to undergo electrophoretic dynamic migration that can result in local deformation of the material. Such an electrophoretic behavior of the IPMC causes the water to leak out of the permeable electroded boundary so as to lower the actuation performance. This situation is similar to a leaking hydraulic actuator (hydraulic jack), which has the highest force density notwithstanding the compressor unit weight. Herein, a new category of actuators as ionic polymeric hydraulic actuators (IPHA's) is defined. The IPMC is a good example of such ionic polymeric hydraulic actuators. The advantage of ionic polymeric hydraulic actuators is their potential to generate substantially high force densities, theoretically better than current hydraulic actuators. Based upon this ionic polymer hydraulic actuator concept, a certain manufacturing technique was developed to increase the force density of the conventional IPMC's by a factor of two (100% improvement in force). This technology and associated experimental results are presented in this paper.

Citation Download Citation

Mohsen Shahinpoor and Kwang J. Kim "Novel ionic polymeric hydraulic actuators", Proc. SPIE 4329, Smart Structures and Materials 2001: Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices, (16 July 2001); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.432642

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