Equivalent modeling for ionic polymer–metal composite actuators based on beamtheories

Abstract

Equivalent beam and equivalent bimorph beam models for IPMC (ionic polymer–metalcomposite) actuators are described in the ensuing paper. Important physical properties ofIPMCs including Young’s modulus and electro-mechanical coupling coefficient weredetermined using the rule of mixture, bimorph beam equations, and measuredforce–displacement data of a cantilevered IPMC actuator. By using a beam equation withestimated physical properties, the actuation displacements of a cantilevered IPMC actuatorwere calculated to show an excellent agreement between the computed tip displacementsand the measured data. Finite element analysis (FEA), along with the predeterminedphysical properties, was used to predict the force–displacement relationship of an IPMCactuator, which is key data to effectively design many engineering devices of interest.Indicated by the results from the FEA agreeing with the measured data, the proposedmodels can be adopted for modeling of IPMC actuators with advanced shapes and otherboundary conditions.