Scaling laws of microactuators and potential applications of electroactive polymers in MEMS

Chang Liu*, Y. Bar-Cohen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

Besides the scale factor that distinguishes the various spices fundamentally biological muscles changes little between species indicating a highly optimized system, Electroactive polymer actuators offer the closest resemblance to biological muscles however beside the large actuation displacement these materials are falling short with regards to the actuation force. As improved materials emerging it is becoming necessary to address key issues such as the need for effective electromechanical modeling and guiding parameters in scaling the actuators. In this paper, we will review the scaling laws for three major actuation mechanisms that are of relevance to micro electromechanical systems: electrostatic actuation, magnetic actuation, thermal bimetallic actuation, and piezoelectric actuation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)345-354
Number of pages10
JournalProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume3669
StatePublished - Jan 1 1999

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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