A mechanical model of a non-uniform ionomeric polymer metal composite actuator

Abstract

This paper describes a mechanical model of an IPMC (ionomeric polymer metal composite)actuator in a cantilever beam configuration. The main contribution of our model is that itgives the most detailed description reported so far of the quasistatic mechanical behaviourof the actuator with non-uniform bending at large deflections. We also investigate a casewhere part of an IPMC actuator is replaced with a rigid elongation and demonstrate thatthis configuration would make the actuator behave more linearly. The model isexperimentally validated with MuscleSheet™ IPMCs, purchased from BioMimeticsInc.