Using Liquid Metal in an Electromechanical Motor With Breathing Mode Motion

Abstract

Electromechanical actuators exploit the Lorentz force law to convert electrical energy into rotational or linear mechanical energy. In these electromagnetically induced motions, the electrical current flows through wires that are rigid, and consequently, the types of motion generated are limited. Recent advances in preparing liquid metal alloys permit wires that are flexible. Such wires have been used to fabricate various forms of flexible connections, but very little has been done to use liquid metal as an actuator. In this paper, we propose and have tested a new type of motor using liquid metal conductors in which radial (or breathing) modes are activated.

Periodic structure with electrostatic forces: Interactions beyond the nearest neighbor

“…In equation (17), since all the masses interact with each other in both the x and y directions, K (2,1), the stiffness matrix for ( k,l )=(2,1) is a 24 × 24 matrix with no element being zero. Four of those elements are the ones in equations (13)–(17).…”

“…For the example structure that was used with columns of radius, height, and electric charge of 0.35 mm, 2 mm, and 500 picocoulomb, the elastic stiffness is about one hundred thousand times bigger than the terms due to electrostatic forces. On the other hand, for flexible PVC, the elastic modulus was measured to be 4.43 MPa (Farzbod et al, 2018). The elastic stiffness terms are about a hundred times bigger in this case.…”