Electro-rheological effects of liquid crystalline polymer on one-sided pattern electrodes

Abstract

In most industrial robots, serious problems of vibratory behavior are caused because of elasticity in the drive systems. An electro-rheological (ER) fluid is a substance that can change its apparent viscosity by the application of an electric field, and homogeneous ER fluids are effective in reducing vibration in robots. Conventional research into ER fluids is based on parallel electrodes with ER fluids between them. Since a high voltage is required for use of ER fluids with parallel electrodes, problems of cost, safety and wiring for practical applications are of concern. In this article, we propose one-sided pattern electrodes that solve some of the above problems. A one-sided pattern electrode is an electrode in a pattern arranged on only one of the two surfaces of a pair of electrodes, with an insulator arranged on the other surface. We developed two kinds of one-sided pattern electrodes: a concentric circle form and a radial form, experimentally verifying the manifestation of ER effects in a liquid crystalline polymer (a homogeneous ER fluid). In addition, the effect of disk gap upon viscosity change was investigated.