Bending Actuators with Maximum Curvature and Force and Zero Interfacial Stress
- 17 May 2006
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures
- Vol. 18 (2), 181-186
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1045389X06063801
Abstract
Stress at the interface of a bilayer actuator can lead to delamination, and this stress increases with the difference in the Young’s moduli of the two layers. In this study, an actuator that includes a third ‘buffer’ layer is modeled, and it is shown how optimization of the thickness and modulus of this layer can reduce stress at that interface to zero, with no loss of curvature and only a small loss in force. A polypyrrole (PPy)/conducting polymer/gold trilayer is used as a model system, with the aim of reducing stress at the weak polymer/gold interface. For a 450 nm thick PPy layer with a Young’s modulus of 0.2 GPa, an intermediate layer of 150 nm thickness with a modulus of 5 GPa reduces the stress to zero with no loss of curvature and only a 7% loss in force compared to the bilayer case.Keywords
This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
- Polyaniline actuators: Part 1. PANI(AMPS) in HClSynthetic Metals, 2005
- High performance conducting polymer actuators utilising a tubular geometry and helical wire interconnectsSynthetic Metals, 2003
- Direct Strain Measurement of Polypyrrole Actuators Controlled by the Polymer/Gold InterfaceChemistry of Materials, 2003
- Analysis of Bi-Metal ThermostatsJournal of the Optical Society of America, 1925