Micro electrostrictive actuator with metal compliant electrodes for flow control applications

Pimpin, Alongkorn; Suzuki, Yuji; Kasagi, Nobuhide

doi:10.1109/mems.2004.1290626

Cited by 30 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…At present, the prototype actuators do not have the size or frequency response required for turbulence control. However, the results of the evaluation suggest that robustness and frequency response will improve with miniaturisation, which is also noted in other studies [21,32,14].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Electro-active polymer (EAP) “dimple” actuators for flow control: Design and characterisation.

Dearing

Morrison

Iannucci

2010

Sensors and Actuators A: Physical

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The long-term goal of this work is the development of a 'smart' skin capable of sensing and real-time actuation of oncoming turbulent flow, specifically to reduce skin-friction drag. Active "dimples" are time-dependent depressions that optimally alter local flow conditions [2]. Lightweight Electro-Active Polymers (EAPs) are ideal for these control surfaces since they offer high strain rate, fast response, low power consumption and ease of manufacture [13]. Key features for integration into a control system are robustness and repeatable, predictable motion. For this objective dimples are assessed and values for out-of-plane deflection, frequency response and vibrational modes, failure modes as well as power consumption values are presented. The dimple design comprises a buckling actuator, which can actuate without the need of a directional bias, differentiating itself from previous designs [16,17,18,19,20,21]. It also actuates from flush to the surface providing asymmetrical forcing, a key consideration for flow control purposes. It is shown that the dimple actuates with vibrational modes higher than the fundamental, and that these are non-linear, an important consideration for this type of device. The power consumption of the device, as required for net power savings, and device robustness is promising.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Electro-active polymer (EAP) “dimple” actuators for flow control: Design and characterisation.

Dearing

Morrison

Iannucci

2010

Sensors and Actuators A: Physical

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“…A 10 nm chromium adhesion layer was deposited first, followed by the gold layer and a final chromium layer to avoid stress gradients. The metallic layer was finally patterned in concentric rings to form a compliant electrode [50,53]. This example is particularly interesting, because it presents a small-size device (2 mm diameter) made in a clean-room environment with microfabrication production methods.…”

Section: Patterned Metal Electrodesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This step is followed by the etching of the exposed metal (c), and finally the photoresist is stripped from the metal (d). This process, which is the standard patterning method used in the integrated-circuit (IC) industry, has been successfully demonstrated to pattern metallic electrodes on elastomeric membranes for DEA applications by several authors [9,27,50,53,64]. Compared to the shadow mask process, any shape can be realized with photolithography, and features with size down to 5 µm have been demonstrated on soft polymers [9].…”

Section: Metal Etchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexible and stretchable electrodes for dielectric elastomer actuators

2012

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Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are flexible lightweight actuators that can generate strains of over 100%. They are used in applications ranging from haptic feedback (mm-sized devices), to cm-scale soft robots, to meter-long blimps. DEAs consist of an electrode-elastomer-electrode stack, placed on a frame. Applying a voltage between the electrodes electrostatically compresses the elastomer, which deforms in-plane or out-of plane depending on design. Since the electrodes are bonded to the elastomer, they must reliably sustain repeated very large deformations while remaining conductive, and without significantly adding to the stiffness of the soft elastomer. The electrodes are required for electrostatic actuation, but also enable resistive and capacitive sensing of the strain, leading to self-sensing actuators. This review compares the different technologies used to make compliant electrodes for DEAs in terms of: impact on DEA device performance (speed, efficiency, maximum strain), manufacturability, miniaturization, the integration of self-sensing and selfswitching, and compatibility with low-voltage operation. While graphite and carbon black have been the most widely used technique in research environments, alternative methods are emerging which combine compliance, conduction at over 100% strain with better conductivity and/or ease of patternability, including microfabrication-based approaches for compliant metal thin-films, metal-polymer nano-composites, nanoparticle implantation, and reel-to-reel production of µm-scale patterned thin films on elastomers. Such electrodes are key to miniaturization, low-voltage operation, and widespread commercialization of DEAs.

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“…Some work has been done to construct stiffer electrodes using compatible materials. For example, Benslimane et al [3] used a silver layer of 0.11 µm on a silicone elastomer of 50 µm and Pimpin et al [4] used slit electrodes of gold to reduce the constraining effect of the stiffer electrodes. In principle, the miniaturization of the electrostatically squeezed elastomers may be expected to result in a similar performance to air-gap electrostatic actuators or multi-layer actuators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Actuated elastomers with rigid vertical electrodes

Lau

Goosen

Keulen

et al. 2006

J. Micromech. Microeng.

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This paper presents a novel design of actuated elastomers using rigid, vertical standing electrodes. The electrodes of high rigidity are designed to have small width, small gaps and large depth in order to produce large electrostatic forces at a moderate voltage, as well as to reduce the constraining effect on the soft elastomers. This novel design embodies lateral stacking to accumulate small strain into an adequate displacement for micro-actuation. Analytical and numerical analyses are performed to evaluate the force-displacement characteristics of the elastomer actuators. It is shown that actuation of the novel design is not limited by the electrostatic pull-in instability, and it is capable of travelling a large range at a high electric field. In addition, feasibility of fabrication processes is studied. It is shown that lateral stacking can readily be realized by filling liquid elastomers into deep, narrow and vertical trenches. A theoretical benchmark comparison with a conventional air-gap electrostatic comb drive indicates that the new elastomer actuator promises great flexibility, large attraction force and robustness against shock and dust blockage.

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Micro electrostrictive actuator with metal compliant electrodes for flow control applications

Cited by 30 publications

References 5 publications

Electro-active polymer (EAP) “dimple” actuators for flow control: Design and characterisation.

Electro-active polymer (EAP) “dimple” actuators for flow control: Design and characterisation.

Flexible and stretchable electrodes for dielectric elastomer actuators

Actuated elastomers with rigid vertical electrodes

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