Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 1999 · 104 citations · 3 references
EngineeringMaterials ScienceMechanical EngineeringActuatorsMicroelectromechanical SystemsPolymer MaterialsActuation SystemsActuator DesignActuator MaterialsElastomeric PolymersMems ActuatorsSoft ActuatorsActuator Performance AnalysisActuator Performance MetricsElectroactive Polymer ActuationElectroactive Polymer ActuatorsElectroactive PolymersMechanical ActuationMicroactuatorsPolymer Actuators
Electroactive polymers are explored as mechanical actuators, compared to conventional technologies and mammalian muscle properties. The study evaluates actuator performance metrics to assess the feasibility of electroactive polymer actuators across applications. The authors review various mechanical design approaches for integrating electroactive polymers into actuator systems. The paper presents examples of electroactive polymer microactuators.
The application of electroactive polymers (EAP) for mechanical actuation is discussed. A comparison is made between established actuation technologies and polymer actuators. In addition, mammalian muscle properties are compared to some of the observed polymer actuation properties. This paper attempts to analyze actuator performance metrics, as set for current technologies, to determine the feasibility of electroactive polymer actuators in various applications. In this analysis, different mechanical design approaches are reviewed for possible use in EAP actuator applications. Examples of EAP microactuators are presented.
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