A systematic development of a chemo–electro–mechanical continuum model—for the application of electrically-stimulated cantilevered hydrogels—and its numerical implementation are presented in this work. The governing equations are derived within the framework of the continuum mechanics of mixtures. The finite element method is then utilized for the numerical treatment of the model. For the numerical simulation a cantilevered strip of an anionic hydrogel immersed in a NaCl solution bath is considered. An electric field is applied to electrically stimulate the aforementioned hydrogel. The application of the electric field alters the initial concentrations of the ionic species due to the chemo–electrical coupling. The gradual increase in the applied electric field leads to the bending movement of the hydrogel. Concluding, the presented multi-field continuum model is capable of simulating hydrogel bending actuators and also more complex systems e.g. gel finger grippers.
A chemo-electro-mechanical continuum model developed previously by the authors is utilized in this article to simulate electrically driven hydrogels for the application as finger grippers. To that end, a system consisting of an anionic gel and a cationic gel immersed in NaCl solution bath is discretized and numerically solved. An electric field is then applied between two electrodes on top and bottom of the simulation domain. For the numerical treatment of this study, the finite element method is exploited. By gradual increase in the electric potential between the two electrodes, the bending movement of the gels is realized. The process leading to bending of the gels is elaborated in detail in this article. It is concluded that our approach proves to be a practical tool for simulation of the closing and opening mechanism of a finger gripper stimulated by electric field.
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