Effect of bending stiffness of the electroactive polymer element on the performance of a Hybrid Actuator System (HYBAS)

Tian Bing Xu, Ji Su, Xiaoning Jiang, Paul W. Rehrig, Shujun Zhang, Thomas R. Shrout, Qiming Zhang

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

An electroactive polymer (EAP)-ceramic hybrid actuation system (HYBAS) was developed recently at NASA Langley Research Center. This paper focuses on the effect of the bending stiffness of the EAP component on the performance of a HYBAS, in which the actuation of the EAP element can match the theoretical prediction at various length/thickness ratios for a constant elastic modulus of the EAP component. The effects on the bending stiffness of the elastic modulus and length/thickness ratio of the EAP component were studied. A critical bending stiffness to keep the actuation of the EAP element suitable for a rigid beam theory-based modeling was found for electron irradiated P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer. For example, the agreement of experimental data and theoretical modeling for a HYBAS with the length/thickness ratio of EAP element at 375 times is demonstrated. However, the beam based theoretical modeling becomes invalid (i.e., the profile of the HYBAS movement does not follow the prediction of theoretical modeling) when the bending stiffness is lower than a critical value.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationSmart Structures and Materials 2006
Subtitle of host publicationElectroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD)
DOIs
StatePublished - 2006
EventSmart Structures and Materials 2006: Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) - San Diego, CA, United States
Duration: Feb 27 2006Mar 2 2006

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume6168
ISSN (Print)0277-786X

Other

OtherSmart Structures and Materials 2006: Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD)
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Diego, CA
Period2/27/063/2/06

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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