Modeling and experiment of a muscle-like linear actuator using an ionic polymer–metal composite and its actuation characteristics

IPMC (ionic polymer–metal composite) actuators produce large bending displacements under low input voltages and are flexible enough to be implemented for biological and/or biomimetic applications. In this study, IPMC was considered for the development of a natural muscle- like linear actuator. For the purpose of design, numerical analysis was utilized to predict free strain and blocked stress of IPMC-based linear actuators, which we considered as the important parameters of a muscle-like actuator. An elementary unit composed of an IPMC and the base polymer, Nafion TM , was proposed for an effective linear actuator. In order to find an optimal design and evaluate the actuation characteristics of the proposed elementary unit, actuation displacement and force were numerically calculated. The calculated maximum free strain of the optimal elementary unit was 25% under an applied 2 V input. Also, brief experimental results are provided.